Water levels expected to drop at Thompson Falls Reservoir

Northwestern Energy are advising recreation water users to be cautious, remove docks and boats as reservoir levels at Thompson Falls are set to drop.

With very high Clark Fork River flow this spring it forced NorthWestern Energy to release a number of the removable steel spillway beams on its Thompson Falls Dam.

“The action, aimed at allowing greater-than-normal amounts of water and debris to safely pass through the dam, will create recreational impacts on the reservoir above the dam in coming weeks,” NorthWestern Energy said in a press release.

The energy corporation is advising its neighbors around the reservoir and other water users to consider removing docks and boats from the water to avoid damage as the reservoir elevation drops and use caution navigating the shallow waters surrounding the reservoir.

“The restoration work to replace the spillway beams will require an unavoidable lowering of the reservoir to the crest of the dam, an elevation of 2,380 feet (a point 16.5 feet down from full pool). Once the reservoir elevation drops to that point, work will immediately begin on replacing the beams,” stated in the press release.

The replacement work is expected to take around two weeks and cannot begin until river flows drop below 20,000 cubic feet per second. The river flow was seen at 98,700 cubic feet per second on May 24.

NorthWestern Energy said they apologized for any inconvenience, however the drawdown is unavoidable.

They advised after completion of the work, the reservoir will be refilled as soon as reasonably possible given the inflows, likely to be late July to mid-August.

For any residents wishing to keep updated on any outages you can follow perspective updates through their social media platforms on Facebook or on Twitter (@NWEinfo).