Water scheduled to be released from Ririe Dam, beginning Monday, August 18 will affect one of the boat ramps at Ririe Reservoir, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. Beginning Monday, the boat ramp at Blacktail Park is expected to be out of service. However, the boat ramp at Juniper Park is expected to be available until the park is closed for the winter in October.

The flow of water below Ririe Dam will increase from approximately 24 cubic feet per second on Monday and reach approximately 400 cfs on Tuesday. That rate of release is expected to continue until the week of September 15 when the Reservoir reaches approximately 20,000 acre-feet (25% of capacity). Water is expected to drop by about 10 inches per day, according to Reclamation staff.

"We hold the water in Ririe Reservoir as long as we can to support recreation, fish, and wildlife and in many years that water can be carried over to the next year to enhance refill of the entire storage system," said Jerry Gregg, Snake River Area Manager. "However, our ability to meet downstream water requirements for irrigation, water quality, and power production is improved by the release of this water," Gregg continued.

Boat ramp elevations for Ririe Reservoir and other Reclamation facilities in the Pacific Northwest can be found at http://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/ramps/

Ririe Reservoir is part of the Ririe Project and is located on Willow Creek, a Snake River tributary in eastern Idaho. Ririe Project provides flood control, irrigation, and recreation benefits and fish and wildlife protection measures. The recreation sites at Ririe are operated and managed by Bonneville County Parks and Recreation Department through an agreement with Reclamation.