BOR: Fresno, Nelson reservoirs near lowest levels for season

Havre Daily News staff

With levels at Fresno and Nelson reservoirs at their lowest levels in years, the federal agency that administers the irrigation reservoirs said the water should start rising soon.

The Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the reservoirs as part of the Milk River Project created at the start of the last century to provide irrigation water — they also provide municipal water to cities on the Milk River — said irrigation operations are starting to ramp down, about a month sooner than normal.

BOR said in a release Tuesday that Fresno is at 30 feet below its full storage elevation of 2575 feet — the BOR website reports as of this morning that Tuesday it was at 13.5 percent full with 604.9 cubit-feet-per-second of water coming in and 880.2 CFS going out — and Nelson is nearly 12 feet below the full storage level of 2,221.6 feet, with the website reporting Nelson Tuesday was at 47.7 percent full with an inflow of 584.1 CFS and and outflow of 407.6 CFS.

As irrigation demands drop, the outflow of the reservoirs typically is reduced, allowing the water coming in to refill them.

Lake Sherburne Tuesday was 68.7 percent full with an inflow of 83.1 CFS and an outflow of 577.7 CFS, the BOR website reported this morning. Sherburne, also administered by the BOR, is on the eastern edge of Glacier National Park and stores water for the Milk River Project that runs into the St. Mary River and is diverted into the Milk by the St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance Works.

Both Fresno and Nelson reservoirs are expected to gain storage after the middle of August into October as water from the St. Mary River Basin continues to be transferred to the Milk River Basin, BOR said in its release.

Recreationists are encouraged to use extra caution regarding changing reservoir levels, the release adds. Boat launching conditions are more challenging at these low reservoir levels and BOR advises people and pets to stay away from the intake structure that is directly west of the Fresno Spillway. Currently, access to that area is prohibited.

For more information, people can contact Jack Conner at 406-247-7300.