Pete Zimowsky's Outdoors Spotlight

Boating at Lucky Peak Reservoir has been fabulous this spring and summer, but things are going to change drastically.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin drawing down water levels at Lucky Peak during the fourth week of July to prepare for the Turner Gulch boat ramp rehabilitation project.

The drawdown will lower the lake 125 feet to allow construction crews to access damaged portions of the nearly 1,000-foot-long ramp by Sept. 1.

The drawdown will be managed in coordination with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and will be dictated by irrigation demand.

Here are key dates for the drawdown:

Reservoir drawdown begins around July 22 with water levels dropping at a rate of 1.25 to 1.75 feet per day.During the first week of August, the reservoir will drop below 3,035 feet in elevation. Within this timeframe there will be a drawdown rate no greater than 2.5 feet per day. Most boat ramps will be inaccessible at this point, the Corps said.In the second week of August, the reservoir will pass below 3,029 feet with a drawdown rate of over 3 feet per day.The Turner Gulch boat ramp rehabilitation project will begin on Sept. 1. The reservoir will hold at 2,930 feet throughout the construction window for the project.Completion of the project will be Nov. 1. The reservoir will begin to refill resuming normal winter operations.

Here are the levels at which boat ramps become out of the water: Robie Creek, 3,046 feet; Mack’s Creek, 3,040 feet; Barclay Bay, 3,030 feet; Spring Shores No. 2, 3,016 feet; Spring Shores Main No. 1, 2,904 feet; and Turner Gulch, 2,905 feet.

For a look at boat ramp levels at Lucky Peak Reservoir, visit usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/ramps/lucky/lucky.html .