PRINCETON DAM
In early May 2023, the DNR implemented a seasonal gate operation strategy plan for the Princeton Dam. The current plan is set to run from May 2023 through June 2026. Please see the bottom of this page for a full copy of the Princeton Dam Operation Plan. Below you will find current updates regarding gates, flow, and other pertinent information to the Princeton Dam.
​The below updates are sent from Uriah Monday with the DNR.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________​​​​​
​​​​​​​
ALL gates are currently closed at the Princeton Dam
​
June 20, 2025
As of June 2, there were two gates closed, and levels at the dam were about 8.0.
The third gate was closed on Wednesday, June 4. Reading on the gage at the time was 7.94.
The fourth gate was closed on Tuesday, June 10. Reading on the gage at the time was 7.94.
The fifth (last) gate was closed just a few days ago on Tuesday, June 17. Reading on the gage at the time was 8.02.
Now that the gates are closed, the dam will remain closed at least until October 1 and, weather pending, until November 1 (see overall operation plan for conditions and details.)
​
June 2, 2025
In my 5/23/25 update, I indicated that the first two gates had been closed a few days ahead of schedule, but that the rains on 5/20 to 5/22 boosted the river flow nicely. At this time, river flow is still around 1060 CFS and the level at the dam is still around 8.0. This being the week after Memorial Day, the operations plan indicates the third gate will be closed – so we are back on track with the ops plan and will close a gate later this week.
FURTHERMORE – there appear to be a few chances of rain in the forecast over the next 10 days, between this and the progress of the gate closure there does not appear to be any reason to believe the level at the dam will get down to 7.3. Therefore, we will plan on closing a gate this week, one more next week (week of June 9), and the final one the following week (week of June 16).
While I will continue to monitor flows, I will NOT plan on sending out any updates from here on out unless there is some drastic change in the weather.
​​
​
May 23, 2025
In my 5/16/25 update, I indicated that the first gate had been closed on Wednesday 5/14, which was about 5 days earlier than the operations plan schedule; this was due to a level reading of 7.48 with a likelihood that it would fall below 7.3. On Monday 5/19, even after the first gate was closed, the staff gage at the dam read 7.35 and on Tuesday it read 7.30. At that time, I had messaged John Harter indicating that while there was rain in the forecast that would likely cause a natural rise, we would likely also close a gate Thursday. Between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, the watershed received a good “soaker” – estimated 1.8” rain stretched over about 36 hours. This naturally boosted the reading to 7.65 by mid-morning Thursday, additionally, DNR staff did make a visit and close a second gate. While this is again a few days ahead of the operations schedule (per ops plan, 2nd gate gets closed week of Memorial Day) and there was no real risk of levels dropping down to 7.3 after the rain, there will be some staffing shortages next week due to the holiday, vacations, and other fieldwork. So it seemed prudent to close the gate while DNR staff was available, knowing that it would have needed closing in a few days anyway.
At this time, the river flow is about 1100 CFS and still rising some, as runoff from the recent rain makes its way through the watershed. Estimated reading at the dam is 8.0. Over the next 10 days there appear to be some small chances of precipitation, but likely flows will slowly diminish over that time. However, even without an additional gate closure, readings at the dam should stay above 7.6 over that span of time. Per the operations plan, the third gate will be closed during the week after Memorial Day.
​
​
​May 16, 2025
FYI we did close one gate on Wednesday afternoon. At the time the staff gage at the dam was at 7.48. Not knowing how much or little rain was going to fall on Thursday it seemed reasonable that if there was little to no rain, the level might drop to 7.3 if we waited until after the weekend, so we closed.
Looking at rainfall data from last night, it appears that the immediate area of Lake Puckaway got about an inch; however, other areas to the west within the watershed received less or even virtually none. So until a day or two passes and the stream gage starts registering some response, I can’t tell for sure how much effect it may have had. There looks to be some rain chance again on Tuesday; I will monitor and if we receive little precip we may close another gate next week.
No decision yet, but will give update Tuesday.
​​
​
May 13, 2025​
In my 4/29/25 update, I indicated that the staff gage reading at the dam was approximately 8.2 with a river flow of about 1300 CFS. At the time the 10-day forecast had little precip forecasted; this turned out to be relatively true with the only precip being about 3/4th of an inch around the beginning of the month, with virtually none since.
At this time, the river flow is about 1020 CFS and while there are chances of thunderstorms on Thursday the prospect of a boost in flow does not seem especially likely. Per the operations plan, while it’s not yet the week before Memorial Day (which is when the plan first schedules closures) the prospect of readings at the dam going below 7.3 appear likely. Therefore, the Department plans on closing one gate this week. Then, at the end of this week after we see how much rain actually fell during the round of storms predicted, we will project the date of another gate closure.
​​
​
April 29, 2025
Since March 10, all five gates at the Princeton Dam have been open. Over that time, readings have ranged from about 8.2 to about 9.1 – this was a gradual rise from early March to early April when the high stage was reached, and has been gradually diminishing again. At this time flows in the system remain fairly steady, being supplemented by intermittent modest rainfall. The reading at the dam is approximately 8.2, estimated from a current flow gage readout of 1300 CFS at the USGS gage at Princeton. Elevations are expected to gradually diminish over the next week and a half, as the 10-day forecast seems to have little precipitation in it.
While I will update you again on or around May 9, this is an early notification/reminder that gates will begin to be closed the week of May 19 (the week before Memorial Day). One gate will be closed each week; gates may be closed sooner if the level measurement at the dam drops to 7.3 (see overall operation plan for conditions and details.)
​​
​
March 10, 2025
Update: the last gate was opened today, gage reading at the dam was 8.28. Flows are likely to be sustained for at least a week; I will check in at the end of the week for another update.
​
​
March 9, 2025
Last week we began the week with two gates open, and following the 1.5”+ of rainfall on frozen ground on Tuesday and Wednesday river flows increased again. DNR staff visited the dam on Thursday, at the time of visit the gage read 8.1 and so two additional gates were opened. A photo sent by John Harter this morning showed the level reading around 8.2. Therefore, the last gate will be opened this week.
​
​
February 9, 2025
My last update was around Thanksgiving. At that time, we had three gates open as per the operations plan and due to adequate seasonal precipitation at that time, levels at the dam were around 8.2. Levels throughout December held relatively steady, gradually diminishing to around 7.7 at Christmas but rebounding a little to around 7.9 when the post-Christmas warmup came and melted the bit of snow we had at that time.
With the hard freezes that set in during January, levels began to decline. By January 13 the reading was around 7.6 and with the very cold weather staying persistent and some uncertainty with the stream gage at Princeton (I usually use this as an indicator of changes in flow conditions but cold weather tends to make it a little inaccurate) I asked staff who might be in the area during the week of January 19. Some staff passing through on the 22nd sent me a reading of 7.24, so we arranged for operational staff to make a closure on Friday the 24th. Unfortunately the ice buildup had frozen the gates, so it could not be closed that day; a return trip was made on Monday the 27thwith de-icing equipment and one gate was successfully closed (two remained open). By January 31 the level was around 7.45. Since more cold weather and no precipitation was predicted for the foreseeable future, we re-visited on February 3 to close another gate (one remained open).
At this time, one gate is open and levels are at around 7.75. We will continue to monitor the staff gage via Mr. Harter’s photos (thank you again, John) and staff drivebys, as well as be attentive to forecasts. Unless we get a significant amount of snow this month, I would expect that the gate status at March 1 will remain similar to what we have seen recently, and is not likely to be the “five gates open” as would be typical per the operations plan.
​