You’ve probably heard by now that reservoirs in the Northwest are low on water, but you may be surprised just how dry they are.
Many lakes levels are lower this spring than they’ve been in 30 years. This is especially true at some of the most popular recreation lakes.
The marina at Howard Prairie Lake is high and dry. The docks tilt awkwardly this way and that, stranded on the uneven lake bottom.
Steve Lambert: “Normally, on a year when the lake is full, we’d most likely have 15 to 16 feet of water above our heads. So, yeah, it’s a little pasture right now.”
Steve Lambert stands on the firm, black lakebed beside the docks. Wildflowers bloom at his feet and fresh deer tracks circle where sailboats and fishing boats should be moored.
Lambert is the Program Manager of Jackson County Parks, which operates the marina, boat ramps, restaurant and store on the lake. The place is nearly deserted.
Steve Lambert: “With the marina, brings in $67-$70,000 annually, and when you have a marina that’s not usable, that’s a direct loss of that revenue that you don’t see the next year.”
Accessing the water for fishing is also a problem, says Tim Walters, with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Anglers can’t get to the fish, and wildlife officials are having trouble stocking the lakes to begin with.
Tim Walters: “As water levels drop below the end of the boat ramp, you can’t get the truck close to the water very easily. You have to add lots of piping to get the fish down to the water, or do some creative things. I’ve even heard of people using tarps and digging trenches to get the fish down to the water.”
As of April, sixty-eight percent of the reservoirs in Oregon and Washington tracked by the USDA contain less water than average.
It’s not as much of a problem in Washington where there were good rains this spring and normal precipitation in recent years. Most of Washington’s reservoirs are near their average storage for now. But these reservoirs are usually kept full during the summer by melting snow pack. And this year the mountain snow just isn't there.
In Oregon, many lakes are like Howard Prairie, affected by three years of drought.
Water levels will continue to drop throughout the region. And recreation managers like Lambert won’t have any say in how much is allowed to remain.
Steve Lambert: “These dams were built for irrigation and flood control. So unfortunately I chose the career of going into parks and recreation, which I absolutely love, but I find more and more that it’s not on the top of everyone’s list, like it is mine.”
That means the priorities of water-skiers and anglers will always come in a distant third.
See a chart of lake levels in Oregon and Washington by clicking here
