Your PUD News Release

Lake Chelan to refill despite low snowpack

Chelan County PUD
News Release
2/4/2005

There will be more than enough runoff to refill Lake Chelan by July 1 and to meet power needs for Chelan County PUD customers, despite low Feb. 1 snowpack readings in the mountains above the lake.

The forecast for runoff into the lake from April through July is 58 percent of normal, second only to the record low year of 1977, when it was 46 percent of average. However, heavy rain last fall and record high January temperatures resulted in a Feb. 1 lake level nearly 5 feet higher than normal.

The extra water in the lake means more power can be generated by the two units at the Lake Chelan Hydro Project between now and July 1, said Janet Jaspers, PUD power resource coordinator. The actual generation will be equivalent to a year with 74-percent average runoff. Even with the extra 5 feet of water in the lake, plans are to cut generation by one or both units during most nights between now and July 1, to ensure the lake refills on time.

The Feb. 1 Lake Chelan basin runoff forecast is for April 1-July 31. The forecast is based on precipitation since October 2004 and snowpack readings at four sites. Records have been kept since 1928.

In contrast, Columbia River runoff forecasts are close to normal for April-July. The Northwest River Forecast Center’s Jan. 28 runoff forecast calls for 95 percent of average flows at Grand Coulee through July. Chelan County PUD also operates two large hydroelectric dams on the Columbia: Rocky Reach and Rock Island dams.

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For more information contact Janet Jaspers, PUD power resource coordinator, at 661.4548.

 
Kimberlee Craig
Public Information Officer
661.4320
679.6958, cell
kimc@chelanpud.org