The Post Online - Full summer pool in Weiss Lake may be hard to achieve

May 7, 2012

Full summer pool in Weiss Lake may be hard to achieve

By SCOTT WRIGHT

LEESBURG — There was an eerie quiet at the Weiss Dam powerhouse last week. The typically violent area known as the “tailrace,” where thousands of gallons of water re-enter the Coosa River every minute after flowing through massive turbines used to generate electricity, was calm and smooth.

The equipment inside the massive mound of concrete designed and built over 50 years ago to harness the power of the Coosa River instead sat idle. Viewed from above, the reservoir's dozen or so miles of dikes would have resembled not a huge funnel, but rather giant arms reaching out to try and hold on to the water in Weiss Lake as long as possible.

So far in 2012, that goal has been elusive. On the other side of the powerhouse, the water level is well over two feet below normal for the first week of May, and dropping daily.

The target date for full summer pool—564 ft. above sea level—was May 1. Last Wednesday morning, the level was at 561.8 ft. By 3 p.m., the level had already dropped to 561. 7 ft. By Friday morning, the level had dropped another tenth.

If northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia don't get some significant rainfall soon, that number is expected to keep dropping. (On Friday, the weekend forecast called for a 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms in northeast Alabama.)

“We're eight inches below normal rainfall for the year, so far,” Weiss Hydroelectric Manager Ted Pyron told The Post last week. “For March and April alone, we are six inches below normal rainfall.”

Pyron said the limited rainfall is only one of several factors that have combined to contribute to Weiss Lake's lower-than-normal level this spring.

“Our region has experienced back-to-back La Nina winters, which are generally warmer and drier,” Pyron said. “According to the state climatologist, a double La Nina is not good for the Southeast as related to water resources.”

The facts bear this out. Already this spring, the Corp of Engineers has commenced “drought operations” in the Coosa River basin.

Pyron said officials at Alabama Power saw the dry spring coming and sought out preventative measures over a month ago.

“We asked for and received a variance from the Corp of Engineers to fill early on the Upper Coosa projects, which include Weiss, Neely Henry and Logan Martin,” Pyron said. “This was done in order to capture and hold any rain that might come our way.”

Scott Unger with the National Weather Service in Birmingham told The Post the La Nina pattern of the previous two years is finally coming to an end.

“It has been a drier weather pattern, but we're coming out of it now,” Unger said Thursday. “Our three-month outlook calls for above-average temperatures and average levels of rainfall.”

But, Unger added, so far in 2012 northeast Alabama is over 12 inches below its normal rainfall average of 24.7 inches for the first four months of the year, as measured in Gadsden.

Pyron said that despite efforts to fill Weiss by early April—almost a month ahead of schedule—it will be difficult to see improvement in the water level unless the region sees a substantial amount of rain that can make up for some of the shortfall.

An e-mail received last week from one Post reader decried the low water level and bemoaned its effects on the summer boating season.

“Very few people can put their boats in the lake and Memorial Day is coming up,” wrote Tommy W. “I really feel sorry for the local businesses that depend on the lake's recreation revenue. Now we have to change our plans so we can go somewhere [where] there is water. ”

Problem is, lakes and rivers overflowing with water are going to be hard to find in the region this summer.

Pyron said parts of the Coosa River basin have been in extremely dry or drought conditions for the past 18 months. He said Alabama Power recently reduced releases from Weiss to the bare-minimum amounts required by federal guidelines to adequately supply other reservoirs downstream.

“We're trying to preserve as much water as possible in an attempt to fill the lakes,” Pyron said. “Droughts are unpleasant to experience, but they are normal, naturally recurring weather phenomena that happen on a regular basis.”