Willamette Valley Reservoirs at 40% Capacity

(Portland) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers` flood control projects are working to reduce impacts from the recent rains that have caused rivers to rise over the last week. `With the continued rain, the 11 Willamette Valley reservoirs that provide storage are now about 40 percent full," said Erik Petersen, operations manager for the Willamette Valley projects. `All projects are at minimum outflow and storing as much flow as possible to help control downstream flooding. The one exception is Dorena Dam. To slow down how quickly the reservoir is filling and to avoid the reservoir climbing too high toward the spillway crest, the Corps is increasing releases out of Dorena Reservoir," he said. Dorena is currently about 75 percent full and outflows from Dorena may continue to increase through Saturday and into Sunday, January 1. `As a result, agricultural lands along the Row River and the Coast Fork of the Willamette River may experience some flooding; no urban or residential flooding is expected," Petersen said. The Corps will continue to monitor the situation. In the Rogue Basin, the Applegate reservoir continues to release maximum outflow while storing a considerable amount of water flowing into the reservoir. There is plenty of storage space available in the reservoir because of an aggressive release schedule to lower the pool following the rain event earlier in the week. Saturday, the William L. Jess Dam at Lost Creek released the minimum flood control flow of 500 cubic feet per second due to more rain in the basin; river levels are expected to reach or exceed flood stage at a number of locations downstream. `In an effort to support local flood reduction efforts, the Corps provided 25,000 sand bags to Jackson County," said Jim Buck, the operations manager for the Rogue River Basin projects. The Corps controls only a fraction of the inflow to the Rogue and Willamette rivers, so flooding may still occur as a result of increased flow from uncontrolled rivers and streams. In preparation for the rainy season, the Corps draws down reservoirs at all flood control projects each fall to provide storage space for rain events such as this one, helping to minimize the impact of the increased flow into the rivers.