Priest Lake Drawdown Under Way

The annual drawdown of Priest Lake is under way, with the water level expected to drop two feet by early November.

At that point, control of the outflow into Priest River will be stopped, according to the Idaho Department of Water Resources. Under normal stream flow conditions, the lake level will drop an additional 12 inches by January. The drawdown began Monday.

The winter releases help generate hydropower at downstream dams. Priest Lake’s Outlet Dam is owned by the state of Idaho and operated by Washington Water Power Co.

, DataTimes