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By LEANN McCOY
Staff Writer
Depending on rainfall amounts, Grenada Lake officials are hopeful they will be able open all beaches for the summer, according to one lake official.
Currently, the lake is standing 2.5 feet over the summer recreation level.
“If the rainfall stays steady, we will be able to draw down the lake back to normal levels by the time the summer hits, and it will be a normal year,” said Project Manager, Don Gober.
According to recent Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District reports, the lake was at 217.48 feet, when it is usually at about 193 feet. The lake is at an estimated 23 feet over the normal curve for February.
The total annual rainfall so far this year is 3.36 inches, and since Jan. 27, over an inch of rain as has fallen. The yearly average of rainfall is 56 inches. A total rainfall of 81.89 inches was recorded in 2009.
“We have been able to open the flood gates to keep the water down in the lake,” said Gober.
Because of rain received in recent months, Gober said Corps officials were not able to do the winter draw-down, which would bring the lake back to normal winter levels.
“We are still on high alert with the level of the water, and we are monitoring all instrumentation and doing surveillance,” he said. “The water is supposed to be at 193 feet at this time of year, but it would take a lot more rain to get to the level needed to start making us really worry.”
Grenada Lake officials do not start round-the-clock surveillance until the lake reaches a level of 226 or more.
According to Gober, for the lake to flood even a few inches, it would have to top the emergency spillway, which is built at a height of 231 feet. The dam has an estimated height near 260 feet.
The lake has been over the emergency spillway five times since 1973.
According to Corps reports:
The lake was over the spillway from March 17 to June 9, 1973, with a total duration of 84 days at or above 231 feet. The highest stage was 234.46 feet.
The lake flooded again from April 13 to May 12, 1980, with a duration of 30 days above flood state. The highest stage was 233.20 feet.
From Dec. 29 to March 31, 1982, the total duration was 93 days, with the highest stage of 234.94.
From April 6 to July 14, 1983, the total duration totaled 100 days, and the highest stage was 236.30.
According to Gober, the 1982 to 1983 rainy season provided the longest duration the lake had been at or above 231 feet in the its history.
The lake flooded April 25 to July 11, 1991, for 77 days, with the highest stage being at 237.31 feet.
Gober said that when the water gets over the emergency spillway, depending on how high it gets, officials close the flood gates to minimize the discharge of the water and to minimize damage.
“When the water flooded in 1991, it got six feet over the 231 feet of the spillway, but it only affected Day Use Area and Hugh White State Park,” he said.
Gober said the lake was built in conjunction with three other lakes across North Mississippi to keep the events of the Great Flood of 1927 from reoccurring.
The Flood Control Act of 1928 created the four lakes -- Arkabutla, Sardis, Enid and Grenada -- along the Yazoo River and its tributaries.
Grenada Lake began operations in September 1954.
“Grenada Lake is fed by the Skuna River and Yalobusha River. When this water goes through the flood gates and creates the spillway, it becomes the Yalobusha River again,” Gober said.
The water from the lake also feeds smaller creeks like Perry Creek and Bogue Creek, he said.
A Corps graph of the rule curve and up-to-the-minute lake levels are available on GrenadaStar.com
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