On Friday April 27, 2012, releases from Anderson Ranch Dam hit 6,000 cfs. This is a flow quantity rarely seen on the South Fork Boise River. Based on records dating back to 1943 (seven years before the dam’s completion) here’s the top years where peak flows got nearly to, or exceeded, 6,000 cfs.
Since 1943 here are the years where peak flows were 6,000 cfs or better
Word on the street, or should we say stream, is that the flow releases out of Anderson Ranch will drop to the minimum 300 cfs flows on or around September 15. You can keep an eye on our handy Current Conditions page, or access the other websites with the flow graphs. Specific date aside, we know for certain there is a lot of water in Anderson Ranch, and we it appears La Nina is Back — which could mean another year of favorable winter snowpack in the Pacific Northwest.
A new measuring station has been established at Neal Bridge. The US Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation installed the gage and it has been reporting river flows since May 2011. Continue Reading…
This is the time of summer when thoughts and conversations among fly anglers turn to the question of when Anderson Ranch Dam flows will drop from the summer boating flows to the wading flows of late summer and fall.
You might hear hushed, brief conversations at the fly shops. The USGS and Bureau of Reclamation river flow web pages get more looks. People start to look at some days in September they can block on their calendar.
Unlike the precision of Friday night lights coming on the last weekend in August for high school football, the exact days for the flows dropping is different year to year. Our prediction is after the jump:
We are holding steady at 2,000 cfs from Anderson Ranch Dam. Anderson Reservoir is now 98 percent full and should top off in the next week.
The slow, steady melt this year has been rather amazing. Despite a dry 2010 water was saved and we entered 2011 with reservoir contents in pretty good shape. Lots of snow this year, but a slow melt, has meant the pools are filling slowly in May and June. Today the pool finally fills to the point to equal that of last year. But this year it is still filling and in 2010 by the first week of July the reservoir was starting to drop. Check out the chart –
Indications point to ending the year with more water than a year ago. And 2010 was slightly higher than average.
