Cascade Water Alliance, the new owner of Lake Tapps, is now refilling the water level of Lake Tapps as part of the reservoir’s annual wintertime drawdown and spring refill.

The refill began Monday, in coordination with the Lake Tapps Community Council and consistent with the White River Agreement with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

Under the collaborative drawdown plan, Cascade lowered the reservoir’s water level by about 12 feet. This was lower than the past few years in order to do some dike repair work and in hopes of killing milfoil in the lake’s shallower areas by exposing the lake bottom grass to freezing wintertime temperatures. The annual drawdown is also designed to ensure that waves from severe winter storms do not overtop the reservoir’s dikes.

Refilling of the reservoir is now under way with the goal of returning the lake to its full, summer recreational level by mid-April. The schedule might be affected by the low snow pack feeding the river, maintaining minimum flows in the White River, and severe winter weather and flood damage to the White River diversion dam near Buckley.

For current information on Lake Tapps water levels, go to the following link for real time gage elevation: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=12101000. To report boating, public-safety or litter problems at the reservoir, please call the Lake Tapps Community Council’s information hotline at 253-891-5460.

For information on Cascade Water Alliance and the Lake Tapps White River Project visit www.cascadewater.org or call 1-877-299-0930.