With the first phase of repairs finished, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to reduce discharge from American Falls Dam in southeastern Idaho on Dec. 21.
The move is in coordination with a rehabilitation project. Construction finished Dec. 7 on the first of two phases. More work is planned starting in June 2021.
Brian Stevens, water operations manager with the bureauâs Upper Snake Field Office in Heyburn, said the recent flow of 900 cubic feet per second will be dropped to 350 cfs, the typical winter flow.
The flow decrease means more water will be stored in American Falls Reservoir for the 2021 irrigation season. The reservoir on the Snake River is important to irrigation, power production and other uses.