| Name: |
RickLake
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/15/2012 9:54:48 AM
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I just bought a house on the lake in 2010 so I am new to watching the lake level. I've noticed the level never gets to 490. Seems to max out at 489.50. Today it's 489.63 and they are releasing 4340 cfm today. Why not let it rise to full pool? If there is a big storm coming, they can release then. Why the 6 inch cushion?
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| Name: |
Ulysses E. McGill
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/15/2012 10:26:17 AM
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I always look at the rule curve as a max level. You are correct, APC usually holds the level a few inches below the rule. A decent rain can add 6 inches to the lake rather quickly, so I undlerstand why they keep a little cushion near full pool. It makes less sense to me at winter pool (historically they do it there too). Because of the drought this year, I'm just happy it's where it's at now. In the 2007 drought, we were at 486 at this time and that was the season high....it was down to 482 by the end of June and kept falling. The powers that be have done a pretty good job at learning from water management mistakes, and I look forward to a new winter pool that will be 3 feet higher. Water fluctuations are just part of the lake package.
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| Name: |
Osms
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/15/2012 10:46:25 AM
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It's pretty much an unwritten concession to the downstream farmers. Farmers got flooded in 2003 due to a sudden heavy storm in Wadley, sued, lost the suit, but APCo has left at least a little room at the top as a concession.
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| Name: |
MrHodja
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/15/2012 11:43:12 AM
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Probably as a hedge against an unanounced gully washer that would put it above 490 and thus cause all kinds of hate and discontent on the part of lake dwellers, not to mention possible damage to the dam structure itself.
Just my WAG.
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| Name: |
MartiniMan
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/15/2012 12:27:48 PM
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Just to give you a sense how quickly the lake can fill, in the early days winter pool was 440'. Yep, it used to drop 50 feet in the winter and would fill according to the rule, except in drought years. The watershed for Lake Martin is over 3,000 square miles in size and if you do the math and drop 1 inch of rain on the watershed and convert it to gallons you will understand why even 6 inches is very little to work with in case of a significant storm event.
One purpose of the dam is to regulate flow to prevent flooding downstream. In order to do that they need capacity. I agree with the others that APCO has done a significantly better job managing water levels since the debacle in 2007 when I left after July 4th and never came back because there was no water at my house.
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| Name: |
Sandy Tiger
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/15/2012 7:11:27 PM
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There was a flood in the early 70's or late 60's that caused a lot of problems. The end of my next door neighbors dock is about 3 inches higher than the start because of it. We moved here in '78 so it was before that. I ike the new plan and think it should give apco plenty of room to work with.
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| Name: |
Lifer
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/15/2012 8:09:29 PM
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The big flood actually came in '79. It washed out the bridge below the dam. The flood waters actually overran the dam. It wont happen again. There is a new concrete barrier wall that will hold the water in the basin should it happen again. It most likely wont though because we have much better forecasting now and the level can be lowered in time to allow for the storm fill.
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| Name: |
Sandy Tiger
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 9:05:53 AM
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79. I guess we got here in 79 then, after it happened. I remember it washed out the bridge.
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| Name: |
Bama for Life
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 9:47:44 AM
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The Highway 50 bridge?
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| Name: |
Lifer
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 11:08:12 AM
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Yes, the hwy 50 bridge. You will see 1980 in the concrete because it was finished then. It was several years after that that the new barrier dam was constructed to prevent any overflow ever happening again. Bottom line is now Lake Martin can leave it's banks whereas before it overflowed around the dam on the east side at 490.
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| Name: |
Aardvark
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 11:30:45 AM
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Also, in the summer, a tropical system like a hurricane can dump massive amounts of rain on the basin in a short period of time. Sometimes the remnants of a tropical storm will stall over the southeast, and when that happens, even the cushion is not enough to prevent flooding. I have some good pictures of when that happened in the late 80's. Maybe I can post them if I ever find them.
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| Name: |
George
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 4:45:46 PM
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If it gets to 490' you'll see the flood gates open. You'll also see that most folks' fixed docks are built to the 489.5' level, your's included. I've seen docks with the deck boards in the water at 490'. I've also seen piers "lifted" by the high water.
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| Name: |
George
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 4:52:18 PM
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Are you talking about the bridge over the Tallapoosa River? I remember in the early 80's a smaller bridge over a creek just east of the big bridge getting washed out. I was traveling west on 50 that day and it had just washed out. I went back to the gas station at Walnut hill and a young man working there gave me directions to get on the Senic Overlook road, which became a dirt road and came back into 50 right at the dam.
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| Name: |
Lifer
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 5:24:24 PM
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Different bridge. The Hwy 50 bridge washed out in the flood of '79. And that dirt road is now a nice tar and gravel. And anyone who hasn't been to Scenic Overlook is missing one of the best views to be had. I was so glad when they trimmed the trees back a year or so ago. It had grown to the point of blocking all the view.
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| Name: |
Lifer
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 6:37:37 PM
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Can't agree on the flood gates, but you are correct about piers and seawalls. My neighbors wall is a few inches under water right now as the lake actually is at 490. That is how I always know we hit the mark....lol. Sad thing is, both neighbors tried to tell him different, but he still built it below the mark.
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| Name: |
Tall Cotton
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| Subject: |
Never gets to 490. Why?
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Date:
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5/16/2012 7:06:42 PM
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Be glad you are where you are and not inTennessee on Center Hill. Summer pool is 648 and they are telling us to expect as much as another 10' down from 629 where it is today. We would think we had died and gone to heaven if it got to 647.50'.
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| Name: |
Mack
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| Subject: |
Not to Worry Cotton>>
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Date:
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5/16/2012 7:45:09 PM
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Most of us on LM understand the complexity of managing the water level on a body of water this big and we appreciate the results most of the time. During the 2007 Summer, I could walk past my "floating dock" for another 100 yards before I got to the water line. That, my friend, was Ugly, and hopefully, HOPEFULLY, it will not repeat. A variance of 6" is very good news.
The more important issue Alabama and Florida residents should be screaming about is Georgia's plans to feed the demand for water in Atlanta from the headwaters of the Coosa, Tallapoosa and the Chattahoochie Rivers, depleting the flow downstream to you, me, and those beloved Apalachicola Oysters.
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| Name: |
MrHodja
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| Subject: |
Not to Worry Cotton>>
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Date:
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5/16/2012 9:39:39 PM
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When I walked out past my floating dock in 2007 I learned what it must be like to be caught in quicksand. The muck on the bottom grabbed my boots and lower legs in a suction so powerful that I almost didn't get out. Logic would tell me the muck wasn't six feet deep and I was in no real danger but for just a moment it was kinda scary.
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Here is a picture from the LM photo gallery of my youngest son enjoying what you speak of.....this spot is covered by 15 feet of water today.
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| Name: |
MrHodja
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| Subject: |
Not to Worry Cotton>>
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Date:
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5/16/2012 11:28:40 PM
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And I don't EVEN want to know what evil lurks in that stuff, especially in light of the current concerns with flesh eating bacteria.
Look on the positive side - it gave us an opportunity to clear a bunch of ne'er-do-wells' beer cans off the lake bottom. We are in a slough popular with fishermen (I promised Mack I wouldn't tell anyone where it is) and some of them were less than good neighbors trash-wise.
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