NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Army Corps of Engineers has been holding back water at its dams, which has caused water levels to rise on Corps lakes in our region.
The river stage at Cairo, Illinois has been at a seasonal record high level. Holding back water on the Cumberland River Basin has controled storage at Lake Barkley, which empties into the Ohio River.
"The water level now is about four feet higher than you'd normally see this time of year," said Bob Sneed, Nashville District Water Management Chief.
The Corps has slowed the flow of water at Wolf Creek Dam, Dale Hallow Dam, and Percy Priest Dam.
"It's all connected. That's the key, it's all connected," Sneed said. "What we're able to do here makes a big difference down river."
The higher water on the lakes will effect both boaters, and campers.
"There's going to be areas that they're able to boat in now, that they wouldn't otherwise, so that could perhaps provide some hazards from a boating perspective, so we would ask folks to be careful about that," according to Sneed.
The high water will also put more debris in the water that could cause trouble for boaters.
Several camping sites at Percy Priest have been flooded. Dale Hallow will have more flooded campsites because of their location closer to the lake.
This Sunday the Corps was set to start increasing the amount of water it releases from its lakes.
"With favorable conditions, and limited rainfall, I think we're looking at somewhere in the one, to two week range to get the level back down," Sneed explained.
The more water they allow out of the dam, the better for fisherman at Percy Priest. Brad Bars said that higher flow has always been great for fishing.
"This is about as good as it gets. There's not too much water, but you want some water coming out of Percy Priest Lake because when that happens the bait get chopped up in that dam, it's just like a feeding frenzy down here," Bars said.
Currently the Corps has been releasing 700 cubic square feet of water per second. When the dam is producing electricity 4,600 cubic square feet of water per second are released from the dam.
