PRIEST LAKE FALL DRAWDOWN

October 8, 2025 As of October 8, 2025, the lake level is at 2.57 feet, and the flow through the dam is 1060 cubic feet per second (cfs). As you likely know, Fall Drawdown began on October 1, 2025. Prior announcements indicated flow through the dam would be capped at 1000 cfs. This would have resulted in a minimum lake level for the winter of about one foot on the USGS lake level gage. Stakeholder feedback has led to a revision to this plan, and the new cap in flow will be 1500 cfs. The revised target minimum lake level is approximately 0.4 feet by November 1. The capped flow of 1500 cfs will slow the drop in lake level in comparison to the Fall Drawdown using historic practices. Drawdown will cease on November 1, 2025 to avoid drying out the kokanee redds on the shorelines of Priest Lake. The following chart shows the anticipated lake levels this year compared to the traditional drawdown method used in 2024. As you can see, the new method for 2025 slows down the drop in lake level. As previously stated, the lake level on October 8, 2025 is 2.57 feet, as compared with the lake level on October 8, 2024, which was 2.1 feet.

IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES