Lake Sakakawea level at 10-year high

Water 20 feet higher than a year ago

By KIM FUNDINGSLAND, Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com

RIVERDALE - The steady and rapid rise of Lake Sakakawea got another boost this week. The latest outlook provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contains more inflow into the Missouri River system than was forecast a month ago.

After almost 10 years of dropping water levels, it appears that the recovery of water in Lake Sakakawea is a reality. The level of Lake Sakakawea on Thursday was 1,839.1 feet, 20 feet higher than at the same time in 2008. Triggered by heavy winter snows in Montana, the inflow continues to run much higher than the long term average. The runoff forecast released this week increases expected inflow from 31.1 million acre feet of water to 31.9 MAF.

If all goes as predicted, Lake Sakakawea will reach 1,840 feet on July 10. That level would be two and one-half feet more than the June 1 outlook and would mark the first time the reservoir has reached the 1,840 foot level since 1999. The historic average for the reservoir is 1,835.5 feet.

The increase in water has rejuvenated interest in the lake that had been waning during the low-water years. Water has flowed into bays that had become overgrown with vegetation and topped temporary boat ramps that had been installed during the low water years all along the shoreline of Lake Sakakawea. Ramps that have been out of the water for several years are busy once again as those campers, boaters and recreationists who had been sitting on the sidelines during the extended low water period have begun to return and enjoy the state's largest body of water.

One of the most recent ramps to slip under the rising water is located at Deepwater Bay south of Parshall. The low water ramp was an excellent, double-wide concrete ramp from which thousands of boats had been launched during the past few years.

"A few guys have been trying to launch there but they are just tearing up the parking lot. The water is above the ramp and the parking lot is flat," said Linda Phelps, Corps of Engineers. "We've had to close it."

Boaters have had to switch to a Game & Fish Department ramp about a half-mile east of the closed ramp. The Game & Fish ramp had been sitting idle for several years. The Corps' old Deepwater ramp site, which boasts a paved parking lot, remains closed and might not re-open this year.

"We're not planning on opening it this year due to budget cuts and things," Phelps said. "Maybe we can get another agency to take it over. There's water on that ramp right now but there's not a lot of water through that whole bay. You'd basically have to follow the Deepwater Creek channel to get out."

The bottom elevation of that ramp is 1,832.9 feet, meaning it currently has about six feet of water over it. However, the changing of operational boat ramps necessary to contend with rising water has been a much smoother transition than during times of low water. During that period many areas along the lake experienced times when they had very little or no access to Lake Sakakawea until temporary ramps could be constructed, sometimes well into the boating season. Now, with so many boat ramps available along the reservoir, it is only necessary to remove some vegetation to clear a path for boats as the ramps return to service once again.