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Bellevue, WA – Puget Sound Energy, in coordination with the Lake Tapps Community Council and the Cascade Water Alliance, will begin actively dropping the water level of Lake Tapps beginning Nov. 1 as part of the reservoir’s annual wintertime drawdown. Due to low flows in the White River, lake levels have been dropping naturally for the past few weeks. The community council urges lakeside residents to remove their boats before the drawdown starts to avoid water craft from becoming stranded in shallow, exposed inlets.
Under the collaborative drawdown plan, PSE intends to lower the reservoir’s water level by about eight to 10 feet, and then consult with the community council and Cascade on whether to reduce the lake level even further. A key goal of the drawdown is to kill milfoil in the lake’s shallower areas by exposing the lake bottom grass to freezing wintertime temperatures. The annual drawdown is also designed to ensure that waves from severe winter storms do not overtop the reservoir’s dikes.
Refilling of the reservoir is scheduled to begin approximately March 1, 2010 with the goal of returning the lake to its full, summer recreational level by mid-April. This schedule may be affected by severe winter weather and flood damage to the White River diversion dam near Buckley. The purchase of Lake Tapps by the Cascade Water Alliance is expected to close within the next few months.
For current information on Lake Tapps water levels or to report boating, public-safety or litter problems at the reservoir, please call the Lake Tapps Community Council’s Information Hotline at 253-891-5460.
