The project includes development of the icicle creek decision support tool for water managers to optimize lake releases of stored water to maximize benefits for irrigation, fish propagation, and…

Chelan County Natural Resource Department received $540,067 in Project Grant funding from the Bureau of Reclamation's Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Program (CFDA 15.514) on September 11, 2025, with a completion deadline of September 30, 2027. The award supports development of the Icicle Creek Decision Support Tool, a sophisticated water management system designed to optimize releases from alpine lakes in the Icicle Creek Basin—a major tributary to the Wenatchee River near Leavenworth, Washington. The tool will enable the Icicle Work Group to implement its 2020 action plan and facilitate balanced water allocation across competing priorities including irrigation, fish propagation, and instream flows.

The project deliverables include data collection activities, hydrological modeling planning, optimization analysis for alpine lake release sequencing and magnitude, and development of a centralized data portal with integrated decision support software platform. These outputs will provide water managers with data-driven methodologies for improved water resource management decisions and establish foundational infrastructure for long-term enhancement of water management practices in the Icicle Creek Basin.

The project includes development of the icicle creek decision support tool for water managers to optimize lake releases of stored water to maximize benefits for irrigation, fish propagation, and instream flows. Icicle creek, is a major tributary to the wenatchee river in the wenatchee subbasin near the city of leavenworth in chelan county, washington. The decision support tool will assist the icicle work group implement its icicle strategy and provide a sophisticated methodology for water management and decision-making on icicle creek. Watersmart funding will support continued implementation of the icicle strategy 2020 action plan and create the first phase of a centralized data portal and decision support tool. The project includes data collection, planning for a hydrology model, planning for optimization of lake releases, and development of the software platform for the decision support tool. The project, will lay the foundation for improvement of the sequencing and magnitude of alpine lake releases in the icicle creek basin.