Montana lake full, reviving recreation
FORT SMITH, Mont. – Boaters, fishermen and other water enthusiasts in southeastern Montana are enjoying something they haven’t seen around here for a long time – a full Bighorn Lake.
The level of the reservoir on the Bighorn River rose nearly 60 feet between April 8 and July 1, reaching its highest level in six years and actually climbing nearly 3 feet into its flood pool before receding.
Back in April, almost no one, including Tim Felchle, the Montana reservoir operations chief for the Bureau of Reclamation, would have predicted Bighorn Lake would reach full pool this year. Snowpack in most of Montana’s mountains was abysmal, although conditions were somewhat better in the Wyoming mountains that feed the Bighorn system.
The reservoir level was so low by April 1 that it was within 3 feet of the minimum safe launch level at its two operating boat ramps – Ok-A-Beh on the north end of the lake and Barry’s Landing on the south.
“We came close to closing before it started coming up in April,” said Linden Schlenker, chief ranger at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.
Instead, he found himself scrambling to hire lifeguards, a task that hadn’t been necessary since 2001.
“Everybody is just glad to have a place to recreate,” Schlenker said. “I think the impact is being felt far and wide.”
Though visitations have not returned to pre-drought levels at the recreation area, Schlenker said they are 56 percent above what they were last year.
For the first time in six years, the boat ramp at Horseshoe Bend on the Wyoming end of the lake is in the water, although Horseshoe Bend Marina, the marina on the southern end of the lake, remains closed. The only place to buy gas or supplies is the marina at Ok-A-Beh near Fort Smith in Montana.
Low water levels have closed the spectacular canyon reservoir for long periods during the past few years as boat ramps were left high and dry, even after the National Park Service extended them to accommodate lower water levels.
It hit bottom March 11, 2003, when the reservoir elevation stood at 3,572 feet above sea level. Safe launch level is 3,580 feet. As of last week, the reservoir stood at 3,639 feet – a foot below the top of the full conservation pool.
Felchle said the lake, formed by the Yellowtail Dam, began filling up after downpours in early May.
“That one day, May 12, inflows into the reservoir increased from 3,000 cubic feet per second to 13,000 cubic feet per second,” he said. “In one day, Bighorn Lake rose 4.6 feet.”
The Bureau of Reclamation briefly increased releases from Yellowtail Dam to help drain the flood pool, but releases have since decreased.
“Our goal now is to keep as much storage as possible in there as long as we can,” he said. “We’ll probably evacuate 4 or 5 feet by fall, and then let it gradually draft through winter.”