The Bureau of Reclamation announced today that Banks Lake is gradually starting to refill as work crews continue scheduled maintenance projects at a 27-mile-long reservoir located between Electric City and Coulee City, Washington.
The Banks Lake refill timeline includes:
Dec. 31: a maximum reservoir elevation of 1550 feet or lower until Jan. 1, 2012. This is an increase from its current elevation of 1538 feet.
After Jan. 1, 2012: pumping can resume until the reservoir reaches its normal operating range of 1565 feet to 1570 feet
The drawdown was necessary to make needed repairs on the Main Canal Headworks at Dry Falls Dam and the Feeder Canal at the North Dam which impound the reservoir and provide water to the Columbia Basin Project.
The $2 million maintenance project started in July and will be completed around March 2012, at the start of the irrigation season. The last maintenance drawdown at Banks Lake was about 17 years ago.
Banks Lake is an off-stream storage facility completed by Reclamation in 1951; it is filled with water from Lake Roosevelt behind Grand Coulee Dam.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
