Article Summary –
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is involved in an ongoing dispute regarding water levels in Montana’s Flathead Lake and the management of the Séliš Ksanka QÍispé Dam by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Citing low water levels last summer, the National Organization to Save Flathead Lake petitioned FERC to intervene, but FERC found the dam was being operated in compliance with its license. Despite this, the Lake County Commission submitted a letter to FERC, arguing that the low water levels could lead to loss of human life due to wildfires, and suggested that the dam’s management be leased to a corporation with more experience managing a hydroelectric facility.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a federal agency that supervises hydroelectric dams, has once again been dragged into a dispute regarding water levels in Flathead Lake. FERC has recently received two letters concerning its ability to regulate dam management for maintaining water levels in the lake, which is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.
This dispute arises from abnormally low lake levels last summer, causing inconvenience for waterfront property owners and negatively impacting businesses dependent on lake-based recreation.
In January, the newly established National Organization to Save Flathead Lake asked FERC to intervene in the management of the Séliš Ksanka QÍispé Dam, owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The group claimed that past dam operators had successfully managed drought without substantial drops during the summer boating season.
After examining the petition, FERC sent a letter to EKI in February stating that the company had fully operated the dam in accordance with its license. However, the Lake County Commission later sent a letter to FERC, expressing concerns about the potential life-threatening safety risks posed by EKI’s management of the dam.
The commission’s letter suggests potential dam management changes, including modifying parts of EKI’s license that support fisheries and endangered species, and instructing EKI to limit its springtime lake drawdown in drought years. They also proposed that the federal agency operating the Hungry Horse Reservoir, which feeds into Flathead Lake, should focus more on alleviating drought impacts rather than on flood control.
In response to this, EKI and the CSKT, who use dam-related revenues to support tribal operations, refuted the commission’s claims, accusing it of creating “manufactured public safety concerns”, and argued that forcing EKI to lease the dam to another operator was beyond FERC’s regulatory authority.
As of March 21, the Flathead basin had 75% of its average snowpack.
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