Polson, Montana — Unseasonably warm and dry conditions have significantly decreased water
supply in the Flathead River Basin and spring runoff is quickly receding bringing river flows to
extremely low levels. With the dry hydrologic forecasts for the remainder of 2025 will be the
third year in a row of abnormally hot and dry conditions. The three years combined will be the
driest consecutive years ever recorded for the Flathead Basin. These conditions have forced
operations at SKQ to again be at license required minimums and filling Flathead Lake as
aggressively as possible while avoiding flood control limits. In spite of these operational
sacrifices by EKI, the melted snow remaining will not get Flathead Lake to full pool. Current
forecasts have the lake reaching its maximum for the year of 2892.3 feet on June 19 then
beginning to slowly recede to 2891.5 on July 12, 2025. Full pool is 2893.
SKQForecastInfoSlides_2025-06-05
“These unprecedented dry conditions are not only taxing on resources they are also extremely
impactful to generation of electricity from the SKQ facility,” said Brian Lipscomb, EKI CEO.
“Electricity generation from the SKQ facility will be 10 percent below normal for this year, add
that to the two years that we have just experienced, and this will put us at 393 GWh of electricity
generation below normal. That is enough electricity to power between 33,000 and 41,000 homes
or a city about the size of Missoula for a year.”
Energy Keepers Inc. responded to these emerging conditions in early spring and began
coordinating with its partners while implementing the license-required Drought Management
Plan. On March 13, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a deviation request to allow
EKI to capture as much run-off as possible rather than the full winter draft requirement. These
actions protect lower Flathead River minimum flows while filling Flathead Lake as early as
possible. As much runoff as possible was captured bringing lake elevations to 3 feet from full
pool on May 26. Dam operators have maintained minimum flows since then.
“In early March, we approved a deviation for EKI because we were trying to avoid impacts to
the community who relies on Flathead Lake,” said Leah Hamilton, Northwestern Division
Reservoir Control Center water regulator. “Our goal was to coordinate actions to increase the
chance of refill as early as possible while balancing needs for flood risk management; however,
it’s also important to understand how much weather influences refill Pacific Northwest lakes and
reservoirs,” she said. “Every water year is different, and there is a lot of uncertainty in trying to
accurately predict runoff several months into the future.”
While recreational boating and fishing can continue at any lake elevation with the accessible
public boat ramps, lake users should be aware that lakefront boat storage and dock access may be
affected if these water level forecasts are realized. As forecasts are updated through the months
of June and July EKI will update the public to any changes.
Please see updated forecasts on Flathead Lake levels with inflows and outflows at:
https://energykeepersinc.com/flathead-lake-data/
About Energy Keepers, Inc
Energy Keepers, Inc (EKI) is a federally chartered corporation created and wholly owned by
the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) of the Flathead Reservation, pursuant to
Section 17 of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. As well as developing economically, the
CSKT are nationally recognized as a leader amongst Tribal nations for exercising their sovereign
powers to preserve and protect cultural, wildlife and natural resources of their traditional
homeland now and for future generations. CSKT and EKI are the co-licensees of FERC Project
No. 5, the Seli’š Ksanka Qlispe’ Project located on Tribal Land six miles below the natural outlet
of Flathead Lake on the Lower Flathead River.
Robert McDonald
CSKT Communications Director
406.249.1818