Drought raises concerns for Libby water supply
The Fisher River, east of Libby, has had low water flows for months due to a lack of rainfall. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
In August, Libby City Administrator Sam Sikes said the city reservoir was in good shape despite severe drought conditions.
Less than two months later, Sikes offered a different assessment at the Oct. 2 City Council meeting.
“While the dam has helped alleviate water concerns, it got pretty low to the point it was a little scary,” Sikes said.
Sikes mentioned upgrading the older Flower Creek spillway to “stop leaks and prevent seepage.”
He also floated the idea of dredging the lower waterway to increase water capacity.
"We're considering using a vacuum dredger," Sikes said.
Also known as a suction dredger, the device can work for loose materials, such as soil, silt and fine gravel.
Sikes said officials are working on a project to screen out leaves and needles to reduce the turbidity of water in the lower reservoir.
Construction of the new Flower Creek Dam was completed in 2016 at a cost of $11.5 million. Sikes said there were no issues with the newer structure.
Councilor Kristin Smith said a more radical approach may be needed in the future.
“We may have to revisit some ordinances about watering lawns,” Smith said.
Mayor Peggy Williams said she spoke to Libby Volunteer Fire Chief Steve Lauer about the water issue and what would happen if the department had to use city water to fight fires.
"We don't think there's an immediate concern, but a fire would take a lot of water," Williams said. "The chief said they would keep the tenders ready with water so they wouldn't have to use city water."
Sikes said the city is completing an engineering report to identify infrastructure upgrades, working with the U.S. Forest Service on hydrology projects and will consider state and federal grants to increase water storage capacity.
He said the city will prepare an action plan that would trigger responses according to the flow rate of incoming water and the amount of water storage.
Recent rain not withstanding, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, all of Lincoln County remained in a severe drought while the southern most parts of the county were in extreme drought.
Lincoln County was designated on July 31 as a primary county for drought disaster relief by U.S Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak.
According to the National Weather Service, the region is likely to have above normal precipitation from Oct. 21-25. Forecasters are also expecting above normal temperatures, too.
But weather experts are predicting the drought to persist in the region through the end of the year.
The National Weather Service’s U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook is predicting that drought conditions will persist across northern Montana, northern Idaho and much of Washington as well as northern and western Oregon.
In mid-August, streamflow on the Fisher River just above where it flows into the Kootenai River north of Libby was about half the typical rate.
According to the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, the Fisher was flowing at 2.73 feet on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 13. Its low water record is 2.37 feet, set on Jan. 2, 1977.
Its current level is 2.75 feet.