ANCHORS AWEIGH.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Like a driver aghast at the price of gasoline, Mother Nature isn't topping off her tank.

Mother doesn't drive an SUV, of course, but she does decide how much water is in Oregon's rivers, lakes and reservoirs for the start of boating season. And this year, she has not said "fill-er-up" anywhere in the state.

The 2007 water outlook ranges from a dismal 30 percent of normal in far eastern Oregon to a mildly worrisome 70 to 80 percent of normal west of the Cascades, according to the Northwest River Forecast Center in Portland.

Not one of the 11 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control reservoirs in the Willamette Basin is at "maximum conservation pool," or as full as the Corps tries to have them going into the boating season. Overall, the reservoir system is about 85 percent full.

However, the two reservoirs most popular with boaters - Fern Ridge, west of Eugene, and Detroit, east of Salem - are both within a foot or so of being full.

And elsewhere there's plenty of water to get that season off to a good start over the Memorial Day weekend. But shallow water might put a damper on boating in some areas before Labor Day.

"The snow's basically gone already pretty much everywhere," said Andy Bryant, a River Forecast Center hydrologist. "Plus, we're getting very little rain in the spring. The Corps of Engineers typically depends on some rainfall runoff to fill their projects, and we just haven't had much rain to speak of."

As a result, the bottoms of three boat ramps in the southern Willamette basin are still above the waterline.

The water in Lookout Point Lake is about 13 feet below the ramp at Black Canyon, but the three other ramps at that reservoir are usable. Sunnyside boat ramp at Cougar Lake is above the water, as is the Cascara Campground ramp at Fall Creek Lake.

All other ramps at Willamette Basin projects are ready for use, and the outlook for Memorial Day weekend boating is good - if the weather cooperates.

However, the Corps earlier this month warned that some reservoirs might not hold enough water to sustain summer-long boating.

Fern Ridge Lake is 1.3 feet below maximum conservation pool and is in relatively good shape for a full season. The same is true of Detroit Lake, which is within 10 inches of full.

Other reservoirs in the southern Willamette basin, however, range from 4 to more than 20 feet below full.

Managing the water supply is complicated by the fact that demands other than recreation are placed on the stored water.

Reservoir levels are adjusted "to manage the needs of fish, water quality and irrigation,' said Matt Rea, the Corps' Willamette Basin coordinator. "There is limited water with many demands on it.'

For example, the drier-than-average spring has been forcing the Corps to release water from several projects to ensure adequate flows for young salmon and steelhead migrating to the sea.

The reservoir system generally assures there will be adequate water for boating in Oregon's major rivers. However, the failure to fill those reservoirs now could mean low lake levels by the end of August. Outflows at the reservoirs Monday exceeded inflows by nearly 30 percent. Several reservoirs were 2 to 3 feet lower than they had been a week earlier.

For detailed information on water levels and boat ramps, see: http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/nwp/Reports/synopsis.out.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced repairs have been completed on the Willamette's Marshall Island boat ramp south of Harrisburg.