PRIEST RIVER — Slightly below-average snowpack upstream of Lake Pend Oreille is reducing the risk of flooding this spring, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Snowpack in the Upper Clark Fork in Montana is 87 percent of average, Logan Osgood-Zimmerman, a senior water manager for the corps, told the Idaho Lakes Commission on Thursday.

“Right now, with the snowpack, the chance of flood risk this year is pretty low,” Osgood-Zimmerman said.

The water supply forecast for the Pend Oreille from April to July is expected to be 81 percent of average. The corps does not anticipate placing the Albeni Falls Dam on free-flow, the practice of removing all the gates at the dam when water supply forecasts are worryingly high.

“This year, because the water supply forecast is lower, we don’t expect to need to that so we’ll do a controlled refill,” Osgood-Zimmerman said.

The corps expects to begin refilling the lake imminently and is targeting an elevation of 2,055 feet by the end of April, although it could up a bit higher depending on late-season storms.

The late is scheduled to reach its summer pool elevation by mid-June.

“Our refill target above 2,062 is in mid June and, again, that kind of depends on the shape of the runoff,” Osgood-Zimmerman said.

The region saw drier weather between October and January, followed by a bone-chilling and storm-filled February.

“I’ve heard that there’s more ice on the lake and the river than people had seen in a very, very long time,” Osgood-Zimmerman added.

Flexible winter power operations were not utilized by the Bonneville Power Administration this year.

“Is that sort of faded from view given the demand that time of year hasn’t been that strong anyway?” asked commission Chairman Ford Elsaesser.

“No, actually the demand was really high this year. I think they wished they had stored some (water),” Osgood-Zimmerman said.

The corps is hosting a dam operations update at the Priest River Event Center on Wednesday, April 24. It starts at 6 p.m.

“By the end of April we have a much better idea of what the runoff looks like,” Osgood-Zimmerman said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.