Forest plowing East Side Road

The Flathead National Forest has hired a contractor to plow out the East Side Reservoir Road this spring.

Spokeswoman Janette Turk said the Forest had to hire a contractor because of lingering snows on the road and it needs to get its staff to the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, which opens May 15. At Firefighter Mountain and Trout Lake, there was still about 40 inches of snow on the ground. The road will remain closed while plowing takes place and will stay gated until May 15.

In a typical year, the road melts out on its own, though it remains gated below Spotted Bear until May 15 for wildlife security, primarily to protect wintering herds of elk and deer.

The West Side Reservoir Road will not be plowed.

It should be a significant year for spring runoff. At least some flooding is expected, as the snowpack is sitting at 150 percent of average. Even the relatively low SNOTEL site at Emery Creek still had 9 inches of snow water equivalent as of Monday.

In a normal year, it has two inches.

The Bureau of Reclamation has been dropping the level of the Hungry Horse Reservoir in anticipation of the runoff, noted Peter Cooper, a civil engineer with the BOR river and reservoirs operation group.

At its lowest, the water level in the reservoir was down to 3,471 feet above sea level this spring, but it’s been rising since then. On Monday, it was 3,486 feet. Full pool is 3,560 feet.

“It’s the lowest we’ve been in a long time,” Cooper said.

It has been lower, however. In 1988, for example, a dry winter coupled with draw downs had the reservoir at 3,382 feet.

Future outputs depend on the flood situation, Cooper noted.

If Flathead Lake is 2,892 feet or less, flood stage on the mainstem of the Flathead River is 14 feet at the gauge in Columbia Falls. If Flathead Lake gets to 2,892 feet or higher, flood stage on the Flathead River at Columbia Falls is 13 feet. As of Monday, Flathead Lake was 2,889 feet. If the river reaches flood stage, the Bureau will cut the outflow to 300 cubic feet per second. The river at Columbia Falls was 12.95 feet Monday, or a little more than a foot below flood stage, based on the level of the lake.

Minor flood stage for the Middle Fork of the Flathead River near West Glacier is 10 feet, with moderate flooding at 14 feet. On Monday, it was 8.17 feet and expected to flatten out around the 8 foot mark this week. Flood stage on North Fork of the Flathead River near Columbia Falls is 13 feet. As of Monday it was 8.88 feet and expected to crest at about 9.82 feet Thursday.

The output from the dam, including generation and spilling through the outlet tubes was 5,800 cubic feet per second as of Monday. The dam’s maximum output, from an energy standpoint is 310 megawatts.

Cooper said the expectation is that the reservoir will reach full pool the first few days of July.

The weather this week should be cooler, with highs in the 50s and 60s through Saturday with a chance of rain each day and the potential for some high elevation snow, though it should be sunny and warmer by Sunday with highs in the 70s.