Last Friday, the water level at Lucky Peak started dropping to meet irrigation demands.
“This has been an exceptionally low water year, which has caused us to need to draft Lucky Peak sooner than we typically have," said Jon Roberts, who oversees the Water Management Program with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working in the Walla Walla District.
Over the weekend, Roberts said they began releasing water slowly to give summer recreationalists as much time as possible.
This week, it's speeding up. Now, close to 2 1/2 feet will be drafted per day. The decision had to balance boating, environmental and water needs.
“It’s a very collaborative effort throughout the region," said Roberts. "There’s a lot of people that work on and study and monitor it daily to make sure we can be as efficient with the water as possible.”
The water coming out of Lucky Peak affects everything from flood risks to fish populations. Even in an exceptionally dry year like this one, he said carefully budgeting this finite resource is a top priority.
