Flood outlook improves here

The Daily Inter Lake

Kootenai River still above flood stage

They're not tamed, but local rivers on Monday behaved themselves.

"Everything's holding," said Mark Peck, director of emergency services for Flathead County.

Record rainfall last week bloated waterways around the valley, but the flood threat was like a bear's bluff charge. It retreated after causing a stir.

On Saturday, part of a small dam on Lower Stillwater Lake burst, releasing a torrent of water into the Stillwater River but causing no damage.

An inspection by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that the bridge structure is stable, Peck said.

Some pastures remain soaked with low-level flooding, he said Monday.

Rivers are moving with extra horsepower and lakes have risen noticeably. Lake Blaine in particular is "really coming up," Peck said.

"It's just all the runoff," he said. Last week's rainfall wouldn't let mountain snowpack come down at its leisure, but hastened the moisture's arrival in local rivers and streams.

Scattered showers are predicted in the next day or so, but no precipitation at last week's levels is expected.

"I think we've gotten off pretty lucky," Peck said.

The main Flathead River, which rose to within half a foot of flood stage on Saturday, had dropped by Monday to 3 feet below flood stage. Water levels in the Whitefish River are declining slowly after nearing flood levels over the weekend.

The Stillwater River, which has risen 4 feet since Friday, was still rising Monday but remained 4 feet from flood level.

Elsewhere in Northwest Montana, high water is a bigger concern.

A flood warning is in effect for the Kootenai River below Libby Dam, while a flood watch was issued for the lower Flathead River below Kerr Dam.

Extra flows are coming out of both dams because of the rising water levels in Lake Koocanusa and Flathead Lake.

As of Monday afternoon, the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, was almost 2 1/2 feet above flood stage and was expected to remain above flood stage through Thursday.

The river peaked at 66.63 feet late Sunday night and is gradually receding. On Monday afternoon the depth was 66.4 feet (flood stage is 64 feet).

The lower Flathead River, meanwhile, was running at 47,900 cubic feet per second on Monday afternoon, compared to a flow of 27,000 cfs on Friday.

The elevation of Flathead Lake on Monday was 2,892.72 feet, just shy of full-pool elevation of 2,893 feet.

A flood watch for the Flathead River below Kerr Dam was in effect through tonight, according to the National Weather Service.