MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – The Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District will begin spillway releases from Bull Shoals Dam Saturday, to evacuate stored flood water.
Beginning Saturday, the Corps will open four of the dam’s 17 gates one-foot each releasing 3,500 cubic feet per second as well as releases from the eight power generation turbines for a total release of 27,000 c.f.s.
On Jan. 17, four more gates will be opened one-foot to increase the spillway releases to 7,000 c.f.s. The spillway and turbine release will equal 30,000 c.f.s. and continue for a prolonged period of time unless significant rainfall occurs downstream of the dam. A 30,000 c.f.s. release is equivalent to 10 hydropower turbines at full power.
The Corps anticipates 4,000 c.f.s. spillway release from Norfork Lake to begin about Jan. 20. The spillway release in combination with the 6,000 c.f.s power turbine release will equal 10,000 c.f.s, or the equivalent of three hydropower turbines at full power.
While the Corps has made similar releases in the past, property owners downstream of Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes should made necessary preparations now for the higher release planned for next week by ensuring that docks are properly anchored and maintained and remove any temporary encroachments from the floodplain.
Daily lake information can be obtained at www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil or the Corps’ mobile App which can be found in mobile App stores by searching for USACE Little Rock.
Little Rock District news and recreation information can be found at www.about.me/usacelittlerock.
UPDATE: Taneycomo has all four generators going as well as has floodgates open. (Sunday Morning)
More rain yesterday as a front came through. For the month of March we’ve had a total of 7.45 inches at the dam. The lake level is at 658 72 ass of 3:00 am this morning. For most of the day yesterday almost 12,000 CFS ran through the day. At midnight generation slowed a little to under 10,000 CFS. Generation for today is scheduled to be a little higher than yesterday.
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This past week was spent fishing with Rick B and Bob W. from Texas. The fishing was tough all three days but wednesday morning the takes were good until noon at which time the fishing got pretty tough. Rick did manage to hook and land this 20 inch brown trout in Cane Island on an egg fishing deep and close to the bank. For the first two days the river was high and wide and mossy and trashy due to the heavy rains we had on sunday which amounted to almost 2 inches. For all three days generation was at a full 7 units of heavy generation with the river clearing up somewhat on wednesday. On Monday and Tuesday it was impossible to fish from Cane Island down due to large clumps of moss and other debris. It looks as though more rain is headed our way for today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) and it could be heavy. The ground here is already saturated and any more rain we get will runoff so the lake levels will continue to rise. As of yesterday friday generation throttled back somewhat to 4 and 5 units of water which is much easier to fish. One good thing about the rain however is it will warm up the lake and hopefully the water coming from the dam. The temps of the river water have been pretty low in the 40’s which slow the catching down. It is warming up around here with lots of sunshine this past week and daytime temps mostly in the 60’s. The trees and plants are budding out a little later this year and in the next week or two I’m sure we’ll see some trees and shrubs in full bloom.
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Weather for the week:
Rain is predicted for today with thunderstorms in the afternoon and a 70 % chance of rain and a 70 % chance of rain in the evening. Sunday also brings a chance of rain at 40% with highs around 60. Monday’s highs in the mid 60’s with sun and north winds at 5. Tuesday’s highs in the 70’s with lows in the 40’s. Wednesday’s highs will also be in the 70’s with lows around 50. Thursday looks like Wednesday with highs in the 70’s as does friday with highs in the 70’s.
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Generation:
Looks like 4 units or roughly 11,000 CFS for Saturday and on Sunday more generation is predicted with 13,500 CFS or roughly 5 units of water. Mondays predicted generation is for 14,500 CFS or 5 to 6 units of water. If we do get some heavy rains today and this evening and sunday these generation predictions could change drastically. Experience tells us that sometimes heavy rains will bring some flooding down stream to Batesville and Newport and generation could be cut way back or even ended providing some wading opportunities on the upper end of the White River.
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Rick B. from Denton Tx. with 20 inch brown trout.
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