Jackson Hole Summer River Flow Schedule

Jackson Hole Summer River Flow Schedule Set:

Last night, the Bureau of Reclamation issued their forecast for water storage needs and wants, potential flows and run off schedule for the Upper Snake River Basin for this coming summer.  Many of us anglers are glued to snowpack analysis and basin storage capacity percentages throughout the winter, but the real answer to everyone’s questions come during the run-off periods.

The Snake River Basin is current at 64% of capacity.

Here is what was presented from the Bureau of Reclamation:

As of yesterday, the entire Snake River Basin is sitting at 130% of average snow pack water equivalence (there are some equipment malfunctions creating an error in the image above).  The current Snake River Basin water storage is at 64% of its capacity.  Last year, at this same time, the Snake River system was at 76% of capacity.  In essence, this is a good position to be in as there is a lot of space and capacity to let Jackson Lake and Palisades Reservoir fill during the main portion of our runoff cycle.  Currently – Jackson Lake is 44% of capacity and Palisades Reservoir is 27% of capacity.

The current situation bids well for anglers and river recreational users.  Obviously things can change; however, since 36% of total space is still available and most of that space is concentrated at the beginning of the system – Jackson Lake and Palisades Reservoir – we are forecasted to have pretty consistent flows discharged from Palisades Reservoir to enable it to get to fill capacity.

Dates comfortable in mentioning (these are not set in stone):

There will be no increase in flows out of Jackson Lake until May 23rd.  The plan for flow out of Palisades is not set, but water managers may increase the flows in the near term to continue to add storage space.  The Bureau of Reclamation plans to have Palisades Reservoir near full by the end of June.  Currently, American Falls is 96% of capacity and its capacity has actually decreased in the past few days.  Adjustments to the Jackson Lake discharge will be applicable until middle to late July.  Water managers are currently forecasting a 2,500 cfs discharge from Jackson Lake for the months of August and September.

Full fishing and river flow information can always be found on the WorldCast Anglers Fishing Reports as well as the Bureau of Reclamation Website.