High Water...

[Jeff Guerin]

It's amazing what you can decipher from all the information found on the internet...

I'm in Shreveport, so I'm looking at the two most important websites at my disposal.

RiverGages.com and The Weather Channel Radar!

You can put the radar in motion to see what's happening currently - right now... more rain...

But at Rivergages.com just click on the Vicksburg District on the map of the US, then under "Choose a basin" click on "Ouachita River Basin" and scroll down till you find the "Little Missouri at Narrows Dam", the "Little Missouri at Murfreesboro" and the "Little Missouri at Boughton".

You can see on the Narrows Dam readings that it rained this morning and that the lake came up a bit.

But on the Murfreesboro (Hwy 27 gauge) you can see the steady, slow fall from 4.21' to 3.68' from Firday through most of Saturday. That indicates just the flow from #3 we had starting Thursday afternoon all the way through Saturday.

At 3:00 Saturday afternoon you can see the sudden rise to 7'! And then a sudden jump from 3:00 to 7:00 this morning up to 9.19'!

Knowing that it takes just about 6 hours for high water to get to Hwy 27 I suspect that they opened up #1 and #2 at around 10 AM on Saturday. Can anyone verify that for me?

The spike up to 9' this morning is probably due to the half-inch of rain that fell on the river from Narrows Dam downstream. Unless they decided to open the Bunger Valves as well...

In normal water situations the minimum flow at Hwy 27 is about 1.2' or so. Three generators sends that up to a little more than five - a four foot difference - which is just about what the rise this morning indicates.

The upstart of all this? I think, despite what the SWEPCO Generation schedule still shows this morning, is that we've generators going since yesterday afternoon!       

[Jeff Guerin]

Well, we're really in trouble now...

Looks like they've shut down because of the high water downstream again. 

Now, the lake is up to 559' with rain up there all morning! Boughton is up to 18.47' and still rising! I wouldn't be surprised to see the lake get over 560' overnight.

We may be topping last year's spring levels and getting into the historically high levels again!

If the rain doesn't quit in the flatlands over the next couple of days, it may be June before we see low water again - apart from today and tomorrow.

Remember, the all time high for the lake just happened to be on a May 18th - 1968 when it topped the spillway by over a foot!

Let's hope we don't see anything like that. 

[Jeff Guerin]

Looks like they've opened back up again, this morning 5 or 6 AM...

Lake has leveled at 559.15'...

[Jeff Guerin]

Just keeps getting worse...

I got back here about an hour ago to find the power out and the whole town just about underwater!

Water up to the bumpers of cars in the Queen of Diamonds parking lot!

I drove through some of the heaviest rain I can remember driving through just now...

Obviously the power is back on and I checked the radar. More storm cells sliding west to east, just as they have been for days, with another about to hit town so I may be turning everything off again shortly!

The lake is now at 559.66' - higher than it ever got last spring! But the chart for today is showing that there's been a drop to that from 559.72' at Noon. 

Sounds like there's a problem with the reporting. Because the rain chart from Noon to 1:00 shows a drop in the cumulative precipitation as well... And I know that's not the case...

It does, however, show that there was an inch of rain from 11:00 to Noon today and just by looking around I'll bet that there was another inch, at least, from Noon to 1:00!

Boughton, at 11 AM, was back over flood stage - and none of this was water has gotten there yet!

Anyone want to fish in the morning? I suspect they'll still be shut down! I'll go check after a while to see if they're indeed shut down right now - I don't think I'll be teaching any tennis this afternoon...

[John Davis]

Jeff, I have been watching closely. Any hopes of no generation on Saturday? Trying to look at the guages, but with the high water downstream, it is hard to tell. John D.

[Jeff Guerin]

Hey John, et al...

I wish I could say!

They're still shut down today at 4 PM (while I was still fishing...), but they're predicting the Boughton levels to drop closer to 15 feet by mid-day Saturday at which point I would expect them to open up all the way!

I wouldn't be surprised if they open at least one generator tonight or tomorrow. The lake is now at 561.57' and apparently leveling... I'll believe that when I see it!

Of course this is assuming, again, that we have no significant rain downstream.

So, to answer your question I kind of doubt it - right now - low water that is. We're much more likely to be cranked tomorrow and thereafter. But, if we get a bunch more rain in the next 24 hours - who knows!

The fishing today, though was OK! Bunch of healthy fish including another Brown about 10-11 inches!

[John Davis]

Thanks Jeff, May just hold off and do more stuff around the house, unless I hear on the board that things may be fishable. JD

[Jeff Guerin]

7:00 AM reading on the lake - 562.1' 

Rained up in the mountains again overnight! And still more sliding over from Oklahoma this morning!

Kayakers should be loving it though! 

Still raining downstream right now, and Boughton can't even get below 20' much less down any further! I don't think we can't rely on the "projected" level either. I suspect that's going to change in the next few hours as well...

We've got a break overhead and a little blue sky trying to show through right now, but we're supposed to keep a 40% chance of storms through the rest of the afternoon. I'd say that's pretty accurate according to what's on the radar right now!

This may still get worse before better... And John you may yet get to fish Saturday!

[Jeff Guerin]

Only 9 inches from the top at 8:00 this morning... 

Sharp rise in the last two hours! At this rate we may go over the top sometime this afternoon...

Fortunately the storms coming out of OK seem to be either diminishing or, at least, not building at the moment...

[John Davis]

Thanks for all the updates Jeff. Still don't know, may just give it up for now and probably miss a great day of fishing! Anyway will have to watch and see. JD

[Jeff Guerin]

It's over the top!

Sometime between 2:00 and 2:15, I'd say, based on what I just saw!

These two shots show the difference in what was coming over in just about a fifteen minute difference!

At least they opened up #3 today!

[Jeff Guerin]

7:00 PM - Thursday...

It's getting to be for real! 563.04' at 9:00 tonight!

Check the May 14th Latest report!

[wb4tjh]

I'll be in Texarkana in mid June to visit my two sons and mother-in-law and plan to get over to the Little Mo' during that time for some fishing....sure hope the water's back down by then. Living in south Florida is great, but I sure miss my Arkansas trout fising.

[Jeff Guerin]

10 AM Friday the 15th!

563.32' - About 4 inches running over the top. One generator still running.

I could see half a dozen fish off the bridge darting around the shallows. They are going to be very happy with the super-high oxygen and cold water for a while.

That's really going to be the case when they open those Bunger Valves again, too!

[wb4tjh]

Are the Bunger valves those two tunnels on the left side of the spillway in the above picture?......I'll bet that would really be something to see open.

[Jeff Guerin]

Down in Shrevesburg today, but it looks like they might have started to let some water go in the middle of the night.

The Murfreesboro reading started showing a three foot rise in the mid morning today and the lake remained level at 563.57' since 9:00 this morning.

Looks like the weather is going to cooperate for the foreseeable future too! Barely a cloud in the forecast for the next ten days! 

Hey Bill - Yes, those are the Bunger Valves on the west side of the spillway in the picture above! It's quite the sight when those are open too! Check out the shot from last spring in this topic: Current Water Situation!

I'll be back up on Monday and we can see what they're letting go by then!   

[Jeff Guerin]

Hey!

The lake dropped a tenth of a foot overnight!

Whoo Hooo!

[Jeff Guerin]

And they're off!

All three generators open - one Bunger open - and still some water making it over the top! And that's putting an extra couple or three feet of water in the river!

However the lake has dropped half a foot since Friday afternoon!

Here's more pics for ya'll. In the second you'll note that the water and spray is going about half way up the spillway - about 70-75 feet! The last one is water over the Wall at Riverside!

[Jeff Guerin]

I just went by Low Water Bridge!

The island is completely covered with water and you can't even tell there's a weir there - it's just flat water until it drops into the shoals!

The lake was 562.98' at 6 PM!

This is going to take a while!

[Jeff Guerin]

Finally, the Rivergages.com site is back up and we can see that the lake is dropping right a foot a day...

Now that the Corps has both Bunger Valves open and blowing out as much water as I think they can. I'll try to find out if they are releasing complete capabilities right now or not.

They've got to be close to it, because I've never seen water in the river the likes of this - not even last spring! 

Check out the pics below! In the shot of the spillway and Bungers you can't really tell it, but there's some three foot waves rolling across to the east bank! And check out where the "Danger" sign is in the foreground - uh, forewater...

The pics of Riverside and the Wall will really give you some reference, as does the bench at the Hind's Bluff Access! Next time you sit there remember that the water was up to your knees!

On a great note, however, water temperature at the Wall - uh, walkway was 62 degrees! Downstream at Hind's Bluff - where the water from the generators has had a chance to blend with the water from the Bungers - the temperature was a very crispy 55 degrees!

That will certainly make the trout happy! I'm thinking that the first day they're shut down you're going to see some interesting fishing!

Come see us sometime in June!

But if the Corps can continue to release water at the rate they are now, they will be able to get back to flood pool sooner than we might think! That is, of course, if we have no significant rains again! The weather has certainly cooperated since last week and let's hope they can keep the releases up at the current rate!

The lake tonight is at 560.19' - down from 563.57' last Saturday! Three and a half feet in less than a week! That's hoofing some water!

....Just 12 feet to go!

[Jeff Guerin]

Had to post these separately...

[Jeff Guerin]

They shut down one of the Bungers sometime this afternoon...

I don't know if that was due to showers (or anticipated showers) downstream or if they just don't feel the need for it now.

The lake has dropped FIVE and a half feet in seven days - that's the good news! And naturally, the SWEPCO generation schedule is showing 24 / 7 releases through the 31st!

Down to 558.15' this evening!

 

[Jeff Guerin]

Been a busy week with the Diamond Festival and all! And the website being maxxed out for the last couple of days...

But, this morning the lake is down to 550.11'!

With both Bunger Valves open for at least the last seven days, they've been able to drop the lake over a foot a day during that time!

We've been very lucky in that we've had no real rain since all this started back the first week of May! In fact, it's been unseasonably dry and cool ever since!

This event could have been a lot worse! 

But now there's light at the end of the Bunger! Just two feet from normal! Although, the SWEPCO Generation schedule is still showing 24 / 7 releases through this coming Sunday. I've almost got my doubts about that...

Even if they shut the Bungers down today, they can still drop the lake, at this point under these dry conditions, about half a foot a day! We should be back to 548' by Thursday or Friday!

IF they want to take the lake down a little bit more, seeing's that it's still just the first of June and still a typically wet period, they may continue to let some water off. But I would think that we may be back to a normal generation pattern by the first of next week!

We haven't seen the SWEPCO charts for next week yet.

I'm hoping that this is the last post I make under the topic - High Water!  

[Jeff Guerin]

Just had to bump this back to the fore-front lest we forget where we started this summer!!!