Under the terms of its federal license, Chelan County PUD shall make a reasonable effort to comply with the lake level management practices defined in the Lake Level Plan in Settlement Agreement License Article 405.

Actual lake elevations may vary significantly from expected averages during drawdown and refill periods. Many factors affect lake level including precipitation, temperature, snowpack conditions, and the amount and timing of spring runoff, as well as compliance with the hydro project’s federal operating license and environmental objectives. In addition, there is the goal to meet target lake elevations May through October.

Future Operations
The level of Lake Chelan is expected to be at least one to two feet higher than usual through the winter and early spring. The higher than usual lake elevation is partly due to reduced hydraulic capacity at the Chelan Powerhouse last fall. A reduction in capacity means that less water is used for generation, so more water remains in the lake. 

Reduced hydraulic capacity from January through mid May of this year will also contribute to a higher than average lake levels through the winter and spring. 

Water from the dam is now flowing through the Chelan River gorge to meet terms of the new operating license.  At least 80 cubic feet per second of water will flow through Reaches 1-3 of the gorge year round. 

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 03:19 AM: 1091.28 feet above sea level

For the 10 days ending 2/8/2010, the daily lake elevation (in feet) has been:

Date	Level	Change
Jan 30	1091.73	-0.02
Jan 31	1091.65	-0.08
Feb 01	1091.62	-0.03
Feb 02	1091.56	-0.06
Feb 03	1091.51	-0.05
Feb 04	1091.49	-0.02
Feb 05	1091.48	-0.01
Feb 06	1091.43	-0.05
Feb 07	1091.36	-0.07

To see data points, first click on the chart and then hover over a spot on the line.
You can also view larger versions of this chart or a year-to-date chart.