There are challenges to cooling the water in Lake Roosevelt and downstream. If you read about the operations of Grand Coulee dam, you'll learn about the many factors that the US Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies consider when deciding how much water should be in the lake, how fast it moves through and how much goes downstream, all of which can affect temperature. These operational decisions are done to support other beneficial uses of Lake Roosevelt such as flood control, power generation, fishery needs, irrigation and recreation.

So scientists are studying ways to cool the waters and protect other beneficial uses.