SANDPOINT — While Albeni Falls Dam gates and local recreation saw positive updates, the level of Lake Pend Oreille drew a number of questions as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a long-awaited town hall meeting Thursday. 

The dam’s spillway gates, which partially control outflows and manage flood risk, have been an area of concern since 2024, when USACE officials discovered defective steel in the third gate. Col. Kathyrn Sanborn, USACE’s Seattle district commissioner, said the gates do not present flood risk, but that the Corps is pursuing an aggressive, five-year replacement strategy. 

The USACE announced March 18 that it awarded a $20 million contract to Knight Construction and Supply to replace all 11 spillway gates. Sanborn said the first replacement gate is set to arrive at the dam in mid-2027, with gates arriving every six months following the first gate’s arrival. 

"I know that sounds like a long time, but those are not uncomplicated massive spillway gates,” Sanborn said. “We want to make sure we get it done right and that we have quality gates that are going to last for another 70 years, and we can continue operations.” 

Sanborn said gate three was rehabilitated using a fiber-reinforced polymer and added sensors before being put back in place in the summer of 2025. She said the dam’s operations are still limited as a safety precaution, but gate three does give them more flexibility in managing lake outflows.  

The levels of Lake Pend Oreille continued to be the hot-button issue at the meeting, with a majority of the questions posed to officials surrounding that topic. David Varner, engineer for USACE, said that despite a low snowpack, the lake is on track to reach its summer pool level of 2,062.5 feet by June 19. 

"In 2025, we were at 68% of normal, but we were still able to achieve refill,” Varner said. “With these numbers, it’s not really a question of if we’ll fill Lake Pend Oreille, it’s when.” 

Several of the attendees asked the officials if the USACE was looking at ways to raise Lake Pend Oreille to the summer pool level sooner. Sanborn said the USACE follows a management plan for the entire Pend Oreille basin, which stretches over 22,000 square miles. 

Varner said the basin’s massive size makes managing the dam a unique challenge because it sees far more water than other dams in the region. Varner said the dam will manage around 10 million acre-feet of water this year, which is around 83% of normal flows. 

Sanborn said that the dam is managed for multiple purposes, including mitigating flood risk, which is far higher in the spring, when the refill of the lake occurs. 

"We’re working against that to make sure that we are balancing those multiple purposes, those flood risks with the recreation mission and all other purposes that are authorized,” Sanborn said. “We are looking at forecasts every day and trying to make those very difficult decisions and calls on whether we could go up a little sooner? And if we can, we will.” 

Dover resident Ben McGrann asked Sanborn if she could comment on the economic impact study released by the Lakes Commission in February. The study, done by University of Idaho professors Steven Peterson and Timothy Nadreau, found that the inconsistency of the lake level and timing of the summer pool shrank Bonner County’s tourism economy by 10% or 11% in 2025. 

Sanborn said the USACE has not had the time to fully digest the study and expressed disappointment that the Corps was not able to comment on the study before it was released. She added that the study is single-issue focused and did not take into account the other operations at the dam. 

"The current operation is documented in an approved water control plan, and simply the economic study doesn’t address the effects of a six-month summer pool,” Sanborn said. “What they would be on flood risk, both upstream and downstream of the dam, power generation, the Columbia River system, the fishery, or any other environmental impacts.” 

At the May 8 Lakes Commission meeting, Peterson and Nadreau gave a presentation on the study and said they are hoping to continue with further research on the topic. 

“The Corps has some extremely sharp people doing data analytics for them. I think if we do another round, I think that we can get to where we can do a benefit-cost analysis, that would address exactly that,” Nadreau said of the other factors.  

Unlike last year, Sanborn said she was excited to share that all recreation areas run by the USACE will be open for the summer. Opening days and more information on the parks can be found at recreation.gov.