News Release Archive

Boise River Flows Set to Increase

Media Contact: John Redding, (208) 378-5212, jredding@usbr.gov
Brian Sauer, bsauer@usbr.gov

For Release: June 05, 2009

The Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be increasing water releases from Lucky Peak Dam and Reservoir today and Saturday June 6, to help manage spring runoff into the Boise River. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for much of the Boise River Basin through Saturday morning.

Flows will increase by 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) today and 500 cfs tomorrow. This will bring flows at the Glenwood Bridge to approximately 5,800 cfs.

Reclamation is coordinating flows with the Corps, which owns and operates Lucky Peak. Increasing river flows is necessary to ensure adequate reservoir storage to regulate the remaining snowpack and additional rainfall. Flows at the Glenwood Bridge were approximately 4,800 cfs on Monday.

Streamflow rates at the Glenwood Bridge gauging station of 1,500 cfs or higher are generally considered unsuitable for river recreation. A flow rate of 7,000 cfs is considered flood-stage level at the Glenwood Bridge gauge.

Reclamation and the Corps discourage river recreation at this time because of cold water temperatures, higher flow velocities, and brush along the river banks.

Flows in area irrigation canals are also expected to run fast, and higher flows can saturate earthen banks, creating unstable walking surfaces. Water-soaked banks can slough off into the flowing water under the weight of people standing too close to the edge of the canals.

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