| Plenty of snow, but where’s the water?
- Low reservoir levels leave boat ramps high and dry
05/23/02
JAMES
GELUSO
Skagit Valley Herald
CONCRETE — Blame the late spring for taking
away some of the Memorial Day fun.
Water that’s usually in Baker Lake by this
time of year is still in snow form in the Cascades, leaving the
lake about 20 feet below its normal level for this time of year.
That means at least three of the lake’s five boat ramps will be
out of commission this holiday weekend.
The Upper Baker Dam ramp near Kulshan Campground
may be the only boat ramp in operation this weekend. There’s a
chance the U.S. Forest Service ramp at Horseshoe Cove Campground
could be open as well, depending on how much water finds its way
into the lake over the next few days.
The ramps at Shannon Creek Campground, Panorama
Point Campground and Baker Lake Resort have been left high and
dry.
Baker Lake isn’t the only lake lacking water.
Reservoir storage across the region — including lakes formed by
Seattle City Light’s dams in Whatcom County — was at only 87
percent of average on May 1, and 47 percent of capacity.
The good news is that plenty of stream flow is
forecast — for drinking water and power generation — later in
the year. The snow pack in the Baker River basin was at 121
percent of normal on May 1. The Skagit River basin’s snowpack
was at 129 percent of normal.
That means there’s plenty of water in the
upper Cascades — it’s just all still snow.
Baker Lake is the upper of two lakes formed on
the Baker River by Puget Sound Energy’s dams. The lower lake is
Lake Shannon, which spills through the Lower Baker Dam just above
the river’s confluence with the Skagit River.
The cool weather isn’t the only culprit
keeping water out of the lake, according to the utility. More
water has been sent out of the lake than normal this month to
provide flow for a study on juvenile salmon. That study is
conducted by the utility along with state and federal resource
agencies and Skagit County’s Indian tribes.
Boaters can get up-to-date information on lake
levels and the status of the boat ramps by calling the Baker
Recreation Office at 1-888-711-3033.
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