Gifford ferry stranded by low water Short crossing of Columbia turns into long drive for students, workers

Dan Hansen - Staff writer

People who live on the west side of Lake Roosevelt will have to make long drives to work, attend classes or make appointments on the east side.

The Gifford ferry stopped running about 5 p.m. Wednesday, a victim of the region's drought.

The surface elevation of Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam, dropped below 1,218 feet. That's 72 feet lower than full, and too low to operate the ferry that keeps the Colville Indian Reservation linked with the outside world.

It's not unusual for the ferry to be drydocked for a week or two each spring. The difference this year is there's so little snow in the mountains, and so much demand for the power generated by Grand Coulee, that no one can say for certain when the drain will end.

"A guesstimate on that is a couple of weeks or maybe a month, or maybe more," said Craig Sprankle, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the dam.

Sprankle said recent cool weather has kept the skimpy snowpack from melting, reducing runoff into the reservoir.

At the same time, chilly people are turning up their thermostats and spending more time indoors, increasing the need for electricity. The bureau must put more water through the dam to meet that demand.

The drawdown means a long commute for 11 students from the town of Inchelium, which is two miles from the ferry dock on the west side of the reservoir. They were scheduled to catch the bus at 7 this morning, rather than 8, for a 60-mile ride that will take them up the west side of the reservoir to the Kettle Falls Bridge, then down the east side to their schools in Gifford and Hunters.

They'll reverse the trip in the afternoon. Until the ferry is running, school will let out a half-hour early, said Pat McDonald, superintendent of the Evergreen and Columbia school districts.

The cost to the districts, which share transportation, will hit $12,000 if the reservoir stays low until the end of the school year, McDonald said.

Sprankle said the reservoir could drop another 10 feet before affecting the Keller ferry, which is 60 miles downstream from Gifford. That's not likely to happen, he said.

The austere ferries are operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and are free to passengers.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001