Future Of The Lake

[KC Trout Fan]

how far in to the near future are the corps expecting the water to be stained and high? i will be down over memorial day and just wondering what the future holds a month out

[denjac]

It will be high into June and July.

[Dutch]

Where I live we got 3 1/2" this week and a lot more expected. All of it runs into the James. Over toward Cassville the rain was a lot heavier. I'd not expect the lake to be normal until July 4th if then.

[Trav]

I have heard rumors that it might be September before it gets back to normal stages. Especially for BullShoals.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I have heard rumors that it might be September before it gets back to normal stages. Especially for BullShoals.

I don't remember '02, not dates at least but BS, and I believe TR, was still high in June last year. Last year can't be compared to this year of course.

I would think TR will be well up in the flood pool Memorial day, but water is water so they will be places to play.

[skeeter]

how far in to the near future are the corps expecting the water to be stained and high? i will be down over memorial day and just wondering what the future holds a month out

No one can really answer this or even make a semi-accurate guess including the COE. We're in the wet season and everything depends on how much precip we continue to receive. All these lakes were sold to Congress as "flood control" projects in the 1950's not just for the White River but the lower Mississippi too and that is precisely what they are now being used for. Power generation was # 2 and a distant third place was recreation. This time of year with the typical clash of warm humid air from the Gulf meeting cold air from the North it all depends on whether fronts are fast movers like yesterday's or if they get hung up on the MO-AR border and then low pressure centers move along them. Fast movers typically yield far less precip than the fronts that stall out and hang around for days acting like a railroad for low pressure centers. The concern most experienced folks have now is the tri-lakes are full to capacity and have no flood storage capacity left. You couple that with the intense political pressure coming out of the Agri-business interests in Arkansas and the flooding potential along the lower Mississippi in Louisiana and I personally don't see the water levels getting anywhere near "normal" until after Labor Day but again that all depends on what is to come. This is the Midwest where any type of weather can and will happen. The region just came out of a protracted period of drought and now the pendulum has swung the other way.

The bright side is it's gonna' be a helluva' spawn

[chub minnow]

King's River was running at nearly 20,000 c.f.s. after the last rain. I don't see the lake coming down significantly this year. Beaver is brim full behind it and the rivers keep flooding. I may be taking the canoe to the boat dock all summer. Never thought I'd need an extra boat to be able to use my boat!