Flathead County commissioners again dove into the fray surrounding Flathead Lake’s summertime water level last week.

The water level in the 192-square-mile lake is typically maintained at a “full pool” of 2,892-2,893 feet between June 15 and Sept. 15. Unusual weather patterns caused levels to dip below the norm in 2023 and 2025. 

“Low water levels during the summer season have caused significant losses to local businesses and has disrupted farming, ranching and recreation interest,” wrote Flathead County commissioners in a Nov. 4 letter addressed to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. 

While the letter did not offer solutions to the problem, the three-person commission urged Burgum to “give this matter the attention it deserves while working toward solutions that provide Montanans and visitors with confidence that Flathead Lake will remain a healthy and sustainable resource.” 

The Department of the Interior is one of several federal agencies that coordinates with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to manage Flathead Lake. 

Early-season models predicted that Flathead Lake would experience historically low water levels this summer after a hot and dry spring depleted much of the mountain snowpack that feeds the lake. In response, Energy Keepers Inc., the tribal company that operates the SKQ Dam at the southern end of Flathead Lake, applied for a variance from the Department of the Interior, which allowed the company to temporarily reduce outflows. 

The reduced outflows and an unprecedented level of late-season precipitation kept the lake within one foot of full pool through Sept. 15. 

“It was better than last year,” said Rep. Ryan Zinke when asked about Energy Keepers’ approach in August. 

But Zinke said that more work still needs to be done to steward the lake.  

The congressman has long been a proponent of the Department of the Interior intervening in the management of Flathead Lake.  

In 2023, he introduced his signature “Fill the Lake Act,” which directed the Secretary of the Interior to manage Flathead Lake at full pool by authorizing additional releases from Hungry Horse Reservoir when needed. Zinke re-introduced the legislation in January. The bill has yet to be scheduled for a hearing or to gain any co-sponsors. 

Zinke penned his own letter to the Department of the Interior in June of this year, once again urging the secretary to release more water from Hungry Horse Reservoir.  

Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy also submitted a letter to the Department of the Interior in August, in which they asked Burgum to “identify a path forward that does not depend on granting annual emergency authorities to maintain sufficient lake levels.” 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].