Libby Dam flow update: 6/19/06
Flows expected to remain the same for awhile
June 19, 2006
Story by KLCB News, Libby Radio
The Corps of Engineers says it plans to keep Kootenai River flow at about 55,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) for at least until mid week. That's if Libby, Eureka and southern British Columbia do not get any major weather events that would increase the inflow to Lake Koocanusa.
According to Mick Shea, Libby Dam Project Manager, there is no intent to increase the flows at this point.
Once the in-flow and out-flow equalize, the Corps will draft the reservoir pool to bring it down to two to three feet of "free-board" behind the dam, and then start reducing the discharge. According to Shea, "The best guess is three-feet of "free-board", and 24-thousand cfs in-flow", will allow the spillway gates to be closed. That would bring the in-flow equal to power house capacity.
Sunday, Bonners Ferry was 2.4 feet above flood stage with expensive damage to the levy system and an estimated two and half million dollars in agricultural damage. The Kootenai River Inn was being sandbagged as a precaution.
Shea said, "We went off the charts. Nobody ever planned for this facility to discharge those kinds of volumes," he said.
Shea said Sunday, "Libby dam is safe."
"It is the safest, most expensive type of dam to build," he said of the concrete gravity dam. "It is performing exactly as designed," Shea said in response to questions of how safe is the dam and had its integrity been compromised?
Related Links:
KLCB News – Libby Radio www.bestcountryaround.com
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