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Lake Chelan level continues to drop

Chelan County PUD
News Release
3/3/2008

The level of Lake Chelan continues to drop as Chelan County PUD generates power and draws water down to make room for spring runoff.

Randy Lowe, executive manager of Energy Resources, told PUD commissioners, on Monday, that the lake was at 1,083.6 feet elevation. In the summer, the lake is at about 1,100 feet. Planners are still analyzing information from the March 1 snow survey but preliminary estimates show that the lake level may need to go down to near 1,081 feet to make room for the spring runoff. The lake has not been that low since 1988 when it reached 1,081.24 feet on March 8.

Lowe said that if weather stays dry and cool, the lake likely will be held above 1,081 feet.

An initial look at the March numbers shows the snowpack between 98 and 103 percent of normal, which is down from estimates just a few weeks ago. This year there is an unusually high percentage of the snowpack at low elevations which complicates runoff predictions.

Lowe said staff members will be in close contact with the Chelan Boat Company through the low-water season. The boat company provides freight and passenger service along the lake and to Stehekin, and low water can pose problems around their docks.

More information on Chelan lake levels.

Chelan PUD selected for state performance audit

Rich Riazzi, general manager, told commissioners that Chelan PUD, along with other public utilities, will have performance audits done by the state. Initiative 900, passed in 2005, requires the state auditor to do performance audits on all government agencies. Chelan PUD’s audit will likely take place this summer.

Riazzi said the audit will require considerable staff time but could show places for operational improvements. “We embrace this opportunity,” he said.

In other business commissioners:

• Heard a report from Art on the Avenues that they will establish a sculpture garden in Wenatchee Riverfront Park, near the Riverwalk Crossing footbridge. The garden will have five or six sculptures by the end of this summer and will eventually be enlarged to include 10 sculptures.
• Heard that the PUD annual report is on schedule to be available in May. The report will be produced in-house with a theme of “ROI – Return on Ideas.”

***

The next regular meeting of the PUD commission will begin at 1 p.m. on Monday, March 10, 2008, in the boardroom at PUD headquarters, 327. N. Wenatchee Ave.
 
Most PUD commission meetings are recorded, and a link to the audio is available on the PUD’s home page at http://www.chelanpud.org.
 
Jeri Freimuth
Chelan County PUD
(509) 661-4504
(509) 668-0267 cell
Jeri.freimuth@chelanpud.org