News Release Archive

Lake Lowell Reservoir Restrictions Lifted as Safety of Dams Work Ends

Media Contact: John Redding, (208) 378-5212, jredding@pn.usbr.gov
Larry Wolf, lwolf@pn.usbr.gov

For Release: February 17, 2009

The Bureau of Reclamation will lift reservoir restrictions at Lake Lowell this month as the Safety of Dams modification project nears completion at Deer Flat Dams Upper Embankment located about 25 miles west of Boise, Idaho.

The $6.5 million modification project at the Upper Embankment was necessary to correct a seepage deficiency identified by Reclamation in 2004. Reclamation made an emergency declaration in May 2005 that called for reservoir restriction levels remain in place for a year and a half until the project was completed.

"Public safety is a high priority, and Lake Lowell is an important part of the Boise Project's infrastructure." said Jerrold Gregg, Snake River Area Office Manager. "We identified the problem and went to work to ensure that Deer Flat Dams would remain safe."

The reservoir was restricted 5 feet in elevation and daily monitoring took place while the safety modifications were being completed. The Boise Project Board of Control, which operates and maintains the reservoir, will run irrigation water from the Boise River down the New York Canal starting around March 1. Lake Lowell should reach maximum elevation for the season in May or June.

Lake Lowell is an offstream reservoir formed by three earthfill dams, Upper, Middle, and Lower Embankments, southwest of Nampa, Idaho. Lake Lowell was constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1908 as a feature of the Boise Project. Recreation is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge.

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