COEUR d’ALENE — Following a dryer winter, Avista Principal Hydro Operations Engineer Patrick Maher said the Spokane River will take more time to reach its summer levels. 

“The main thing that is confusing to people is the elevation of Coeur d’Alene Lake is within the top foot, why is the water still down? The reason is most of the gates are still open,” Maher said. “The gates need to be open to pass the water, the people on the river just need to be patient.” 

Most years, Avista doesn’t start to close gates until well into May or even June, but this year was unusual. 

“The snowpack was so low this year that we’re fairly certain that the runoff we’ve gotten is the most we’ll have,” Maher said.   

It would take a considerable amount of rain to affect the gate-closing trajectory that hydro engineers are analyzing now. 

“The lake elevation went above summer elevation like it normally does and now it’s on its way back down,” Maher said.   

The elevation of Lake Coeur d'Alene is currently 2,128.09, which is about an inch above the normal maximum summer level.  

The present water level at the Spokane Street Bridge above Post Falls Dam is 2,121.03, which is about 6 feet 9 inches below normal summer level. 

"We expect the level of the water above the dam to stay about the same over the next few days," according to Avista's website.

Avista expects the elevation of Lake Coeur d'Alene to decrease over the next week.    

“As we slowly start to close gates, water will pile up behind the dam and the people on the river between the dam and the lake will start to see the water fill somewhat,” Maher said. 

It could take several weeks before most of the gates are closed.

“The big thing to understand is there is a 7-foot difference vertically for Coeur d’Alene Lake and right above the dam,” Maher said. “In the 9 miles between Post Falls dam and the lake, if they’re close to the lake it still looks like the winter low because all of the gates are open.”

Maher said Avista will try to hold the elevation within 1 foot of where it is normally held in the summertime. 

“While people might start using the river between the dam and the lake, it’s not going to be summer ready for quite some time,” Maher said. 

The lake experienced runoff in December and again in March, with snowmelt and quite a bit of rain. Since the region experienced only 63% of its snowpack compared to normal years, Maher said runoff concerns based on rainfall are low.  

“It’s still possible if we get big rainstorms that we could get runoff, but the main runoff is going to be done," he said.