October 10, 2007 - Annual drawdown of Lake Tapps' water level to commence
November 1, 2007
Puget Sound Energy, in consultation with the Lake
Tapps Community Council, will begin dropping the water level of Lake Tapps on
Nov. 1 as part of the reservoir’s annual wintertime drawdown.
The community council is urging lakeside residents to remove their boats
before the drawdown starts to avoid water craft from becoming stranded on
shallow, exposed inlets.
PSE plans to lower the reservoir’s water level about
eight feet by the end of January. The
traditional drawdown is designed to ensure that waves from severe wintertime
storms don’t overtop the reservoir’s dikes.
The drawdown also helps to kill milfoil in the lake’s shallower areas
and freshen the reservoir’s water quality.
PSE plans to begin refilling the reservoir by about
March 1, with the goal of returning the lake to its full, summer-recreation
level by mid-April 2008.
For current information on Lake Tapps water levels
or to report boating, public-safety, or litter problems at the reservoir, call
the community council’s Lake Tapps Community Information Line at
253-891-5460.
Sept.
18, 2006
Annual drawdown of Lake Tapps’ water level to commence Oct. 2
Puget Sound
Energy will begin dropping the water level of Lake Tapps on Oct. 2 as part of
the reservoir’s annual wintertime drawdown, prompting the Lake Tapps
Community Council to urge the removal of boats from the lake as soon as
possible to avoid water craft from becoming stranded on shallow, exposed
inlets.
If fall
precipitation is relatively normal, the PSE-owned reservoir’s water level
should drop by about a foot per week. It should take PSE about four months to lower the reservoir by
the desired 16 to 17 feet.
The traditional
wintertime drawdown is designed to hinder the growth of milfoil in the
lake’s shallower areas, help freshen the lake’s water quality, and make it
easier for property owners around the reservoir to maintain or repair boat
docks.
This winter,
the drawdown also will enable PSE crews to install a “back-flow preventer”
near Printz Basin. The device
will allow White River water to continue running down PSE diversion flumes and
canals into Lake Tapps, but will block reservoir water from surging back into
the diversion canal if a major earthquake or storm ever caused a large,
west-to-east back-flow of water.
Under an
agreement with Lake Tapps property owners,
PSE will return the reservoir to its full, summer-recreation level by
mid-April next year.
For current information on Lake Tapps water
levels or to report boating, public-safety, or litter problems at the
reservoir, call the community council’s Lake Tapps Community Information
Line at 253-891-5460.
#
Lake Level
Information - March 29, 2005
Repairs
to Puget Sound Energy’s damaged White River Diversion Dam were completed March
20.
The repairs have enabled PSE to begin re-filling Lake Tapps following the
annual winter drawdown for milfoil control.
However, if the Northwest’s current drought persists into the spring,
extremely low flows in the White River will cause a longer re-fill period.
Although the National Weather Service is predicting that drought
conditions are likely to continue across the Northwest into June, storms appear
likely for Western Washington in late March.
Unless record-low precipitation persists, Puget Sound Energy expects Lake
Tapps to be full by Memorial Day weekend.
Lake Level Information
NEWS RELEASE
For
Immediate Release:
Media Contact:
Sept.
29, 2004
Roger Thompson
1-888-831-7250
Winter drawdown of Lake Tapps to commence in mid-October
BELLEVUE
– Puget Sound Energy and Lake Tapps community representatives recently set
Oct. 15 as the date to begin the annual wintertime lowering of the reservoir’s
water level.
If fall
precipitation is normal, it will take approximately five weeks to lower the
reservoir by the desired 16 feet. PSE
set the lake-level target in consultation with the Strategic Water Advisory
Team, which represents Lake Tapps residents and property owners.
PSE will hold the lake at the reduced elevation until late March, and
then will gradually refill the reservoir to accommodate summertime public
recreation.
The traditional
wintertime drawdown is designed to hinder the growth of milfoil in the lake’s
shallower areas, help freshen the lake’s water quality, and make it easier for
property owners around the reservoir to maintain or repair boat docks.
For current information on Lake Tapps water levels
or to report boating, public-safety, or litter problems at the reservoir, call
the Lake Tapps Community Information Line at 253-891-5460.
Information on the reservoir’s water level also can be found on the
Save Lake Tapps Coalition’s Web site, at www.savelaketapps.com.
###
September 12, 2004
In accordance with the Agreement signed between Puget Sound
Energy and the Lake Tapps Community (signed March 31, 2004), the lake level will
remain at 'full pool' until October 31, 2004.
August 20, 2003
Important Lake Tapps Lake Level Information:
I have confirmed that PSE needs to be at or below Tapps
elevation by October 1. This means we will begin drafting Tapps during the
week of September 22. It would seem that boat owners should have their
boats out of the water by 9/22 or no later than 9/24.
Gene Galloway, Puget Sound Energy
August 13, 2003
The reason the lake is temporarily below the "full" summer level
is that we moved up the schedule for our annual, standard maintenance
"outage" that normally occurs in late August or early September.
We conducted the maintenance early this year to accommodate Tacoma Public
Utilities' plans to move and reconstruct a water pipeline that crosses the
White River below our diversion dam. Tacoma's project is designed to
make its pipeline more fish-friendly and avoid the kind of fish strandings
that have occurred in the past at the crossing site.
Our maintenance project (during which we don't divert water from the White
River into Lake Tapps) is nearly complete. We expect to resume water
diversion into Lake Tapps on Friday (8-15). There's not a lot of river
water available for diversion right now, however, so the lake probably will be
slower to refill than normal. By the middle of next week, the lake
should be at about 542 feet mean sea level ("recreation" level).
It could go another 6 inches or so higher in following days, and then will
fluctuate slightly up or down for the remainder of the summer, depending on
hydropower operations.
April 19, 2003
This is just a quick note to let
you know the news that PSE started refill of Lake Tapps on Friday, April 11th.
Work is completed on the
replacement of trash racks at the entrance to the powerhouse flow conduit.
Work is also completed on the pipe that drains 1 cubic feet per second (cfs)
of water from the lake to Bowman Creek at Dike 4A. Even more significant
is the progress being make on the remediation of the dikes. Work on dike
4A, 5, and 6 is progressing well, with reinforcement of dike 4A far enough
along to allow filling to start. Fill will progress at a controlled rate
until lake level reaches about the 'normal winter level at elevation 520 ft.
Filling beyond that point will depend upon progress on reinforcement of dikes
4A,5,6 and on work on dike 11. It looks like work on all dikes can be
completed to allow fill to continue on schedule. Installation of stone
columns on dike 11 is, however, not as far along as had been hoped. The
contractor on that part of the project has started working 2 shifts, 7 days a
week in order to complete on time.
Over all the schedule is
still very tight, but it looks more and more like the lake will be full for
Memorial Day!
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
Media Contact:
Jan. 25, 2003 Roger Thompson
1-888-831-7250
PSE drafting Lake Tapps to lowest level ever for repairs to hydropower
facilities
BELLEVUE, Wash. – By the end of this month Lake Tapps should reach its
lowest water level in history as Puget Sound Energy draws down the 92-year-old
Pierce County reservoir for needed inspections and repair of hydropower
equipment.
The utility intends to drop the diked reservoir’s water level by about 10
to 15 feet over the next week. Once the target is reached – 505 feet above
mean sea level – Lake Tapps will post its lowest level ever, approximately 37
feet below the full, summertime water mark.
"If people around Lake Tapps have dock work that needs to be done before
the start of boating season, it’ll be the perfect time to tackle the
job," said Charles Morton, PSE’s manager of hydropower operations and
maintenance. "All docks will be high and dry. We’ll see lake bottom that
hasn’t been exposed since the project was first built."
During the first of two record-low drawdowns, PSE will inspect a small
pipeline and valve that allow some Lake Tapps water to flow beneath a man-made
dike into Bowman Creek, at the reservoir’s northern edge. Workers also will
analyze and prepare for the replacement of large, metal grates normally lying
beneath the lake’s surface. The grates cover the opening to a 12-foot-wide
pipeline that funnels Lake Tapps water into PSE’s nearby White River Power
Plant, preventing logs and other debris from being sucked into the plant’s
generator turbines.
PSE expects to complete this initial work during the first week of February.
The utility then will raise the reservoir’s water level back up to about 520
feet mean sea level, a typical wintertime level.
After the initial inspection work is done, Morton said, it will take four to
five weeks to complete a repair plan and secure all the necessary replacement
parts. At that point, roughly mid-March, the reservoir will be lowered again.
Workers then will replace the underwater grates, or "trash racks,"
that shield the intake of the 2,840-foot-long pipeline connecting Lake Tapps to
PSE’s hydropower plant. In addition, PSE will inspect the large concrete
pipeline itself. The valve in the smaller, Bowman Creek pipeline also will be
replaced at that time.
--more--
Puget Sound Energy – Page 2
Meanwhile, PSE expects to begin seismic upgrades to several of its dikes
around Lake Tapps in early March. The seismic work, directed late last year by
federal officials, is designed to safeguard the dikes against possible damage
from a catastrophic earthquake.
Aided by new technology, researchers now believe earthquakes in the Pacific
Northwest may reach greater magnitude than earlier thought. In response,
government regulators are mandating seismic upgrades on hydroelectric facilities
to increase their ability to withstand severe quakes.
PSE plans to build berms of rock and compacted earth along portions of
its dikes’ outer shoulders. The berms will be placed at locations deemed most
susceptible to soil liquification from a shallow, high-intensity earthquake.
PSE hopes to finish most of the seismic-remediation dike work by early May so
that Lake Tapps can be refilled to its recreational level by Memorial Day. The
utility traditionally keeps the reservoir "full" – at about 542 feet
mean sea level – from late May through early September.
The public may get periodic updates on the Lake Tapps dike-remediation
project by calling PSE, toll-free, at 1-888-CALLPSE, option 5, then extension
81-2400.
###
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Media Contact:
Sept. 26, 2002 Roger Thompson
1-888-831-7250
Boats should be hauled out of Lake Tapps by Sunday, PSE says
BELLEVUE – Puget Sound Energy is reminding boaters to remove their craft
from Lake Tapps no later than Sunday evening to avoid retrieval problems as the
reservoir’s water level drops.
The reservoir will start dropping significantly next week when the utility
steps up hydropower production to meet the perennial fall and winter spikes in
customers’ electricity demand. The lake’s annual fall drawdown also meets
federal requirements for a lower lake level to accommodate possible extreme
rainfall in winter.
Gene Galloway, manager of power-generation assets for PSE, said the lake’s
water level fell by more than a foot over the past few weeks because of dry
weather and low in-flows from the White River. The reservoir will drop even
further – and quickly – once PSE’s Dieringer Power Plant generators, fed
by the reservoir, begin running at full capacity next week.
PSE traditionally keeps the reservoir at a "full" recreational
level from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The utility then begins drawing down
the reservoir as the winter heating season commences, with the lake’s level
fluctuating in relation to water inflow and customers’ seasonal power demand.
###
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Media Contact:
Sept. 3, 2002 Roger Thompson
1-888-831-7250
Lake Tapps water level to begin dropping, as usual, in late September
BELLEVUE – The water level of Puget Sound Energy’s Lake Tapps reservoir
will begin to drop later this month as the utility ramps up hydropower
production to meet the perennial fall and winter spikes in customers’
electricity demand. The lake’s annual drawdown also meets federal requirements
for a lower lake level to accommodate possible extreme rainfall in winter.
The reservoir’s water level could fall by up to a foot per day once the
utility’s Dieringer Power Plant generators, fed by the reservoir, begin
running at full capacity, said Gene Galloway, operations manager of the PSE
facility. Stepped-up hydropower generation likely will commence around Sept. 25,
he noted.
"Unless we’re getting a lot of rainfall and inflow at that time, the
reservoir should drop pretty quickly," Galloway said. "So, just as we
advise every year, people should pull their boats off the lake before October 1
to avoid any problems bringing them up for the season."
The PSE-owned Pierce County reservoir is one of Washington’s most popular
recreational spots. PSE traditionally keeps the reservoir at a "full"
recreational level from Memorial Day through Labor Day. PSE then begins drawing
down the reservoir as the winter heating season commences, with the lake’s
level fluctuating in relation water inflow and customers’ seasonal power
demand.
###
PSE's Lake Level Information (April 1, 2002)
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Contacts:
April 1, 2002 Roger Thompson
1-888-831-7250
Puget Sound Energy to refill Lake Tapps by Memorial Day weekend
BELLEVUE – Lake Tapps’ water level will be back at full capacity by May
24 to accommodate the unofficial Memorial Day start of the summer recreation
season, according to Puget Sound Energy.
The PSE-owned Pierce County reservoir, fed by water diverted from the White
River, traditionally is kept full by the utility from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The man-made lake’s water level varies the remainder of the year to enable
maximum hydropower generation at PSE’s nearby Dieringer Power Plant.
The diked reservoir’s maximum water level is 543 feet above mean sea level.
Gene Galloway, asset manager for PSE’s power-generation facilities, said the
utility will keep Lake Tapps within about one foot of that peak level throughout
the summer months. Until Memorial Day weekend, he said, Lake Tapps’ water
level will fluctuate depending on available inflows from the White River and the
hydropower demands of PSE customers.
###
August 30, 2001
PSE announces that the Lake Tapps drawdown will start on
October 1st, 2001.
Save Lake Tapps News 3/23/01
An Email From Roger Thompson, Puget Sound Energy, to
Save Lake Tapps Coalition (3/23/01):
Drought prompts PSE to keep higher Lake Tapps water level
Puget Sound Energy will attempt to keep its Lake Tapps hydropower reservoir
at a higher-than-normal water level between now and Memorial Day because of the
Northwest’s severe winter drought.
October-to-March precipitation this winter has been only about half of
average, said Ed Schild, PSE’s director of energy production and storage.
Consequently, PSE is storing more water in Lake Tapps than it would in a normal
water year to enable more power generation should a regional energy shortage
arise.
In addition, Schild said, PSE wants to make sure it can achieve a
"full" Lake Tapps water level by Memorial Day weekend. PSE voluntarily
keeps the reservoir full between Memorial Day and Labor Day to accommodate
recreational activity on the popular Pierce County lake.
Between now and the end of May, PSE will strive to keep Lake Tapps within
about four feet of its summertime "full" level – 542 feet above mean
sea level. Depending on the amount of inflow Lake Tapps receives from the White
River, PSE will try to maintain a reservoir elevation of somewhere between 538
and 542 feet. Low inflows mean less hydropower will be generated, while
significant precipitation will boost the project’s generating capacity.
Lake Tapps updates will follow as weather and power-load conditions change.
Save Lake Tapps News 9/1/00
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release Contacts:
Sept. 1, 2000 Dorothy Bracken
Kremiere Boone
1-888-831-7250
Annual drawdown of Lake Tapps reservoir to commence Sept. 25
BELLEVUE – Puget Sound Energy announced today that it will begin
lowering the water level of the utility’s Lake Tapps reservoir on Sept. 25.
The reservoir’s water level could fall by 6 to 12 inches per day once PSE’s
Dieringer Power Plant generators, fed by the reservoir, begin running at full
capacity, said Gene Galloway, operations manager of the PSE facility. Because of
the rapid drop in water level, boat owners should make sure their boats are off
the reservoir by Sept. 25, he said.
"We don’t want anyone’s boat to be left high and dry," Galloway
said. Lake Tapps homeowner associations, he added, are being informed this week
of the Sept. 25 deadline to ensure that boat owners have adequate notice about
removing their water craft from the reservoir.
The PSE-owned Pierce County reservoir, a popular recreational site surrounded
by hundreds of waterfront homes, traditionally has been kept full by PSE from
Memorial Day through Labor Day. Each year, the lake’s water level is gradually
drawn down after Labor Day as PSE’s power plant south of Auburn begins
generating maximum, peak-season amounts of electricity.
Save Lake Tapps News 3/14/00:
The following message was received from Roger Thompson, Puget
Sound Energy:
March Update on Water Level of Lake Tapps Reservoir
Between now and March 27, Puget Sound Energy will draw down
the water level of the Lake Tapps reservoir to accommodate the installation of a
water line by the City of Bonney Lake and to enable Puget maintenance work on
White River Project facilities. The reservoir will be lowered to about 522 feet
mean sea level – roughly 20 feet below its "full" summertime peak of
542 feet mean sea level. On April 1 Puget will begin to return the reservoir to
its summertime (542-foot) level, where it will remain from May 26 through Labor
Day. The precise reservoir level during this spring’s eight-week refilling
period will fluctuate depending on weather conditions and power-generation
needs.
Data Provided to Save Lake Tapps Coalition by Gary Nomensen,
PSE, 10/11/99:
Oct. 11, 1999
Dear Lake Tapps Resident,
Puget Sound Energy learned last week that a number of Lake Tapps residents
were unable to remove their boats from the reservoir prior to its annual fall
drawdown. We want to notify you that PSE has decided to keep the water level up
this week – through midnight Sunday, Oct. 17 – to enable the removal of any
boats that may have been stranded.
The reservoir’s drawdown traditionally begins in September following Labor
Day weekend. PSE recently informed the Lake Tapps Task Force that we would
consider keeping the reservoir full, depending on market conditions, as late as
Nov. 1. Unfortunately, some Task Force members heard that to mean the reservoir
would stay full until Nov. 1. The market changed substantially following the
recent Task Force meeting and PSE began the drawdown on Monday, Oct. 4.
We decided to keep the lake full this long due to market conditions and
because many Lake Tapps residents desire to have a full lake for as much of the
year as possible. We also owe it to our customers to generate as much power
revenue as possible from the reservoir because that revenue translates into
lower power-supply costs for them. Because of last week’s significant increase
in wholesale power prices, PSE would have lost more than $120,000 in revenue had
we not begun the drawdown when we did.
"We are sorry there was confusion on the drawdown date and are pleased
to offer the extra time for boat owners to remove their boats from the
reservoir," said Ed Schild, Director of Energy Production and Storage.
We want to remind residents that we will begin the reservoir’s drawdown on
Monday, Oct. 18.
Sincerely,
Gary Nomensen
Community Relations Manager
Lake Drawdown Notice From Puget Sound Energy
Data Provided to Save Lake Tapps Coalition by Roger Thompson,
PSE, 10/8/99:
Puget Sound Energy began its fall drawdown of the Lake Tapps
reservoir this week (October 4-8) as a result of favorable conditions in power
markets and to meet customers' increased demand for power. While the company
normally begins to draw down the reservoir shortly after Labor Day, this year it
did not begin until early October. The current rate of the drawdown has
been somewhat more rapid than normal as water inflows to the reservoir from the
White River so far have been below normal.
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