BOATING -- With about $69 million in repairs to a cracked spillway completed at Wanapum Dam, water levels on the Columbia River reservoir are being brought up to normal levels and boat ramps are being readied to use for the first time in more than a year.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will reopen two boat launches and nearly 20 miles of the remaining shoreline above the Wanapum reservoir to public use on Wednesday, April 1.

Sunland Estates and Yo Yo Rock boat ramps near Vantage were among dozens of recreational sites that were closed to public access in March 2014 as the Grant County Public Utility District lowered water levels 26 feet for spillway repairs.

The crack was detected in February 2014 and the reservoir was lowered 26 feet about the time salmon and steelhead were beginning to stage for upstream spawning runs. The state and PUD worked to minimize any impact the dam repairs had on salmon migrations.

Since stabilizing the dam, the utility has been raising water levels and restoring public access to areas of the 37-mile-long reservoir since January.

However, only this week has the water risen high enough to open the shoreline farther north in the Quilomene area to the public, said Jim Brown, WDFW regional director for northcentral Washington.

WDFW made major improvements to the Sunland Estates and Yo Yo boat launches while water levels were low, installing armor matting at the end of those ramps to provide a smooth launch surface, he said.

• See more info on Grant County PUD’s website.