PALISADES, Wyo. — After a historically dry summer, Jackson Lake and the Palisades Reservoir will likely lose almost all of their stored water by the fall.
According to the Bureau of Reclamation, water levels could reach historic lows in the coming autumn months. As of yesterday, they reported the reservoir to be 40% full.
“Water supply was looking stronger in spring. And after March, it’s waned quite heavily,” said Brian Stevens, the water operations group manager for the Snake River area office to Local News 8.
“It’s looking like Jackson Lake will end up at around five or six percent full. And then Palisades Reservoir will end up at about two or three percent full. Then American Falls Reservoir will probably end up in the range of about 10 percent full.”
Numbers as such haven’t been seen since 1987.
“We are anticipating our reservoir system, all the reservoirs, from Grassy Lake, Island Park, Jackson Lake, Palisades, American Falls, Ririe, and Minidoka Dam, or Lake Walcott, when you take all those storages together at the end of the year, we’re looking at the system being approximately 12% full to end the year,” Stevens said.
During an average year, that number is 40%.
