The Lake Waters Continue to Rise

The water is back.

Following years of drought that dried up much of the state, an exceptional winter snowpack appears to have turned the tide. Every stock tank and ox bow up here is brim full.

I may even have a lake house once again.

For two years the water in Fort Peck Lake has been dropping, so much so that the bay upon which my house sits began to more closely resemble a ditch.

Since the first of March, however, the lake has been rising steadily, up nearly four feet already, and the snow in the mountains has just begun to melt. Rumor has it the lake is going to rise another seven feet.

In a few days I hope to launch my fishing boat and tie it to my dock. By the end of last summer there was not enough water to even float the dock. I’d beach the boat on the bank instead, the mud furrows left by the bow only now beginning to disappear under the rising water.

I hear that one of the babies – either la Nina or el Nino – is going to dominate the weather pattern for at least the next year. It’s confusing. One or the other will be responsible for either wetter or dryer or warmer or colder weather.

Or possibly no change at all.

Nothing special was forecast last winter. It simply started early and lasted late. We hadn’t had such a winter in more than 10 years.

The previous winter was more typical of what we dealt with over the past decade, little snow and mild temperatures, a late fall and an early, dry spring.

I look forward to what fishing remains. While Fort Peck and Nelson Reservoir survived the drought, most of the smaller ponds in the area didn’t, either drying up completely or winter-killing because of the heavy snow cover.

This year may be an anomaly. More relentless heat and dry might be just around the corner.

Of course it‘s raining now, the rivers are raging, and the mountains remain cloaked in white. Expecting more of the same in a time of climate change might be a stretch especially when the babies are misbehaving.

For a year though, we’ve got water and more is coming. I’m going to try and enjoy it while I can.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]