Lake drawdown

[Rodmaker]

When does the corps typically start drawing down the lake for winter. I'm coming down the last week of October, and with the lake already down over 2', I'm curious as to what might the projected level at that point in time.

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

If you ever figure out what the Corps or SWPA is planning to do please tell me.

[Nitroman]

 Your guess ( any ones guess ) is just as good & probably better than any answer you would get from the USACOE. They would be the last people I would ask / trust / believe.

[176champion]

Maybe they did it just to mess with us fisherman...lol...

[Browning Guy]

18 hours ago, Rodmaker said:

When does the corps typically start drawing down the lake for winter. I'm coming down the last week of October, and with the lake already down over 2', I'm curious as to what might the projected level at that point in time.

 

I would say somewhere between 895' and 935' depending on who passes gas at the Corp of Engineers in Little Rock. Years ago when the lake was actually used for flood control, I would say 910' to 912' depending on rain.  That was years ago though. For now, please see the first sentence.

[m&m]

The lake level is at 912.49 according to the Corp today.  If they have a winter draw down, I plan on taking video of some areas for future reference.

Mike

[Browning Guy]

31 minutes ago, m&m said:

The lake level is at 912.49 according to the Corp today.  If they have a winter draw down, I plan on taking video of some areas for future reference.

Mike

I have took video from Baxter to Holiday island and Hideaway up to Bridgeport several years (15-16) ago when the lake was down to 900'.  I spent three days on the water going back to many places to see why I caught fish there and to video tape.  I put it on 2 DVD's a couple years ago.  It is amazing to see the structure that held fish in certain areas and to see structure to go back and fish. You won't regret spending time doing it. Just be careful if the lake gets down to 900'.

[MOPanfisher]

I don't believe there is a "winter drawdown" as such.  If memory serves, SWPA has a range of lake level something like 922 to 898, where basically it is their call to decide whether or not to generate with, above that level it is more flood control.  of course there are various agreements for certain levels at certain times but overall its SWPA's job to turn that water into megawatts, and the megawatts into dollars.  Whether its Beaver, TR, Bull Shoals, Stockton, Truman, or Mark Twain. 

[merc1997 Bo]

there is not such a thing as winter draw down any longer.  the lake has went from flood control priority to power generation priority.  same for bull shoals.  congress is part of the problem.  they passed legislation to do so according to the corp.  so, no one, in goverment, gives a flip if everything is flooded out and the lake is not accessible because all the parking and ramps are under water.

bo

[MOPanfisher]

I know I have discussed this before, but there is always a trade off.  If you want the lake to be a pure flood control lake, expect extreme low water levels, drawn down to 900 or less every year, to provide more room to store flood waters, if you want to have it strictly for recreation, then all the water will quickly get passed through to hold it at "normal", and forget about useful hydro-electric generation, if you want primarily hydro generation, then expect more extended high water periods for the water to be held so it can be generated with.  Each group has their own biases.  Recreation wants it stable, Hydro folks want lots of water to generate with, flood control folks are not concerned with recreation just the storage of flood waters.  Hydro-electric generation is worth Billions of dollars to SWPA, there is a value paid simply to have the generators available (not broken down or awaiting repair), in case they need electricity, when one is broken down there is a big push to get back on line.  SWPA has also in the last several years been willing to drop a lot of money into major maintenance and repair items on the hydro dams, in essence funding things that would take years to get through congress and the federal budgeting system, simply so they can have the ability to produce electricity.   

In my oddball opinion the next 20 years will be a roller coaster ride on lake levels, whether you want to blame it on Global Warming, or Republicans, or Muslims, storms seem to be getting stronger and dropping more and more precipitation into small areas, creating a massive flood situation.  In areas like the White River system, it can handle one or maybe even 2 large events, but when you start chaining them together over the course of a year, and the Mississippi is also flooded, limiting what can be released further downstream it becomes a balancing act to try to hold it until it can be released.  Couple that with extended periods of no rain, and an ever increasing demand for clean cheap electricity on demand (read that as hydro-electric generation), and the competing interests are going to go at it like wolves on a fresh kill. And all that is NOTHING but my own opinion.