Bracing for the worst
Bracing for the worst
Lake Audubon to receive Sakakawea water
By STU MERRY
They hung on every word spoken. Farmers, cabin owners, county officials – all were wondering how they will be impacted when the level of Lake Audubon is increased over the next few weeks.
Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced late this past week that they will begin to initiate releases into Lake Audubon as part of flood risk management operations at Garrison Reservoir.
The Lake Audubon pool is currently at 1848.3 feet above mean sea level (msl). The pool level has begun to rise at a rate of 0.3 to 0.4 feet per day as inflows of 2,200cfs are funneled through the Snake Creek Pumping Plant from Lake Sakakawea into Lake Audubon.
The rate of rise will gradually decrease as the Lake Audubon level approaches the Garrison Reservoir level, which as of Tuesday stood at just over 1853 msl. The final pool level for Lake Audubon has not been determined, but it could rise as high as the pool level forecast of 1854 feet msl at Garrison Reservoir.
