Despite snow showers, lake level is low

Upper Klamath Lake has been rising only slightly despite heavy snow. Now lake managers are worried about warming a trend.

Published Jan. 9, 2004

By DYLAN DARLING

The snow that rings Upper Klamath Lake hasn't changed the way the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation sees the lake - it's low.

"I'm still assuming we are in a drought condition," said Dave Sabo, manager of the Klamath Reclamation Project. "Until I see the lake full, I am assuming we are dry."

As of Tuesday the lake was at 4,139.7 feet above sea level. Full pool is at 4,143.3.

That 51/2 feet of difference in elevation amounts to more than 250,000 acre-feet of water, or enough to cover every acre of land in the Klamath Reclamation Project with a foot of water.

Cecil Lesley, project water and land chief, said the lake has been rising a couple of hundredths of a foot per day since the Bureau made a deal with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to lower flow requirements on the Klamath River. The fisheries service wrote the biological opinion for the Klamath River, which guides how the Bureau should control flows to help coho salmon.

The move lowered the required December flows from Iron Gate Dam, located on the Klamath River just south of the Oregon-California border, from 1,621 cubic feet per second to 1,300 cfs. As of Tuesday, inflows in the lake were steady at about 1,400 cfs, but could spike with a thawing of the recent snowfall, Lesley said.

Now the Bureau is left in a bit of a bind.

The agency wants some of the snow at lower elevations and in the hills to melt, come down and fill the lake. But not too fast.

Lesley said a strong snowpack is crucial for a solid irrigation season.

"We've got a lot of area to store water, but we don't want to lose the majority of snow," Lesley said. "We think of the snowpack as our upper-level reservoir."

The "reservoir" of water in the form of snow up in the mountains comes down with the warming of spring and keeps coming through summer.

But, even heavy, heavy flows now might not mean robust streams and rivers into Upper Klamath Lake in the spring.

Lesley said there have been three dry years in a row, so the aquifers that feed the springs, which in turn feed the surface flows, might have a low charge.

To get the aquifers charged up, the Bureau is hoping for a slow snowmelt. Lesley said a quick melt would mean a flash of water down the rivers and streams, through the lake and out to sea.

For the short term, things have warmed up - Friday morning's low was 36 degrees at 4 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Earlier in the week, weather forecasters predicted that a "Pineapple Express," or moisture-laden tropical system blown in from Hawaii, would warm up and wet down most of Oregon, including the Klamath Basin.

So, Lesley said, some steps were taken downstream to prepare for a possible increase of water.

The Bureau, at the request of PacifiCorp, increased flows from Iron Gate and Copco reservoirs over last weekend to reduce the potential for flooding if an expected warming brings a rush of water from the hills.

Lesley said the flows from Iron Gate Dam topped out at 1,735 cfs on Saturday, and flows Tuesday were back to 1,300 cfs. While flows increased downstream, he said flows from the Link River Dam, which holds back Upper Klamath Lake, were decreased.

During last weekend the Bureau cut flows from the Link River Dam down to 490 cubic feet per second. On Thursday, Lesley said the flows were close to their 900 cfs average for this time of year.

The combined effect was the drop in level of Copco and Iron Gate Reservoirs, but those are minor pools compared to Upper Klamath Lake, he said.

But now it looks as if the Pineapple Express isn't going to happen.

George Taylor, Oregon's state climatologist, said a Pineapple Express is marked by heavy tropical moisture and a big jump in temperatures. He said the system now hitting the coast is a normal storm system with some tropical moisture. Last night the first stretches of the system came across the Basin, bringing a splash of rain and a small boost in temperatures.

While the change in weather could melt some of the snow piled up at lower elevations, the snow up in the mountains should remain.

"I think you will be able to hold on to that hard-earned snow a little bit longer," Taylor said.