September 2020

I have archived the September 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). September water levels were characterized by a leisurely drop over the course of the month from a high of -0.89 feet at the start of the month to a low of -1.14 feet at the end. On average the water level in August was 0.3 feet (3.6 inches) lower than it was last August. The real news in September were the severe drought conditions that have persisted (and worsened) for the entire month. We started the month slightly ahead of the yearly average and received only 0.10 inches of rain on September 1st and no more rain until storms on the 28th and 30th. That’s 25 days without a drop of rain. We ended the month with a total rainfall of only 0.74 inches, fully 3.10 inches shy of the monthly average of 3.84 inches. For the year we’re 3.04 inches below average for this date. We’re heading into October with a severe deficit of rain. Hopefully that will change soon.

August 2020

I have archived the August 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). August was characterized by extremely dry and and extremely hot weather which lead to considerable lake water loss due to evaporation. The anticipated influx of runoff from tropical storm Isaias at the beginning of the month never materialized, so our efforts to create a little headroom for storm water runoff only resulted in lowering the lake level two and a half inches, not that anyone noticed! From that level (-0.65 feet below the HWM) the lake level fell steadily at the rate of about 1/4 inch per day until a series of popup thunderstorms starting on August 24th brought some much needed rain to the area that helped keep the lake level from falling further. The lake ended up at -0.90 feet below the HWM. Historically, the water level in Clary would never have been this high in August. Continue reading →

June 2020

I have archived the June 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). For the second month in a row, the most notable thing about the chart is how relatively stable the water level was especially in light of how little rain we received! Total water level variation for the month was only 0.18 feet (2.2 inches), starting out the month at -0.37 feet below the HWM, falling to a low of -0.55 feet on the 27th, and finally ending the month a little higher at -0.50 feet below the HWM thanks to some much needed rain. Keep in mind that the HWM is actually 3 inches or so ABOVE the lowest point on the dam; for most of the month the lake was pretty much lapping at the top of the dam. We really can’t get more stable than that. Continue reading →

May 2020

I have archived the May 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing about May was how stable the water level was, hovering right around the top of the dam and varying only a little more than 2 inches (0.18 feet) over the course of the entire month. This was by design of course. We started the month at the low of 150.79 feet, hit a high of 150.97 feet on the 22nd, and ended the month at 150.82 feet, only a fraction of an inch higher than we started. This was by design of course: the WLO specifies that after ice out in the Spring we should raise the lake to it’s “full capacity” and keep it as close to that level as possible through the end of July. We consider the lake is at “full capacity” when the water is lapping at the top of the dam, despite the fact that the elevation of the “High Water Mark” is roughly 3 inches higher; we obviously can’t be expected to maintain a lake level where water is running over the top of the dam. Continue reading →

April 2020

I have archived the April 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing about April (aside from the cold weather!) was the excessive rainfall we received which resulted in a short but intense period of extreme high water. Two back-to-back storms on the 9th and the 13th dropped a total of 3.65 inches of precipitation. In addition to a good charge of rain, the first storm also included about 8 inches of very heavy wet snow which completely melted during the second weather event, which was all rain. The resulting runoff from both storms caused the lake level to rise quickly, cresting at 151.75 feet or fully 0.58 feet above the High Water Mark, by far the highest we’ve seen the lake in a long time. The last time I saw more water going over the dam was during the Patriot’s Day storm back in 2007. According to our Dam Operation Log total outflows peaked around 230 cubic feet per second. We hurriedly opened the gate all the way the day before the storm and left it open for 5 days to help drain off some water, and the lake level quickly returned to where we want it this time of year: at or very close to the top of the dam.

We received a total of 6.25 inches of precipitation in April, fully 2.38 inches more than the monthly average of 3.87 inches. This brings us to 16.14 inches for the year to date or 2.70 inches more than the average of 13.44 inches. We’ll see if this trend keeps up in May.

Here are a few pictures from the April 14th high water event:

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A few days ago when I posted about archiving the March water level chart I said I expected the lake would fill soon, but that was before we received heavy rain on Thursday and Friday. That did the trick! This morning the lake had risen to an elevation of 150.96 feet and water was just beginning to flow over the top of the dam (picture at left). What a pleasant sight! While the current lake level is still 0.21 feet below the HWM, I consider the lake to be full when water is just beginning to flow over the top of the dam. Dave Knight and I went over this morning and installed the 6th and final stop log and opened the gate just a wee bit to tweak the outflows. Our goal now will be to maintain this water level (or close to it) through the end of July. The current minimum flows of 35.9 cfs drop to 8.3 cfs on May 16th.

March 2020

I have archived the March 2020 Water Level Chart (at left) which for what it’s worth was labeled “Clary Lake Water Level February 2020” for the entire month of March due to an oversight on my part. Hope nobody was confused about what month it really was! The remarkable thing the March water level chart reflects is the relatively stable water level that lasted through the whole month, hovering right around 1 foot below the HWM for most of the month. Normally, long about the middle of March precipitation and rising temperatures cause the snow to start melting, and runoff starts to increase which usually more or less coincides with the change in minimum flows from the wintertime rate of 11.3 cfs to the springtime rate of 35.9 cfs. It’s about mid-March that we start to install some stop logs in the weir to start raising the lake level while at the same time opening the gate to produce the higher outflows required by a the change in minimum flows. This year however there wasn’t any snow to melt so that big charge of runoff that Continue reading →

February 2020

I have archived the February 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). The lake level was pretty sedate for most of the month, falling slowly and steadily from a high of -1.09 feet at the beginning of the month to a low of -1.52 feet on the 27th. On that date we received an inch of rain which melted a good deal of our snow pack and brought the lake up almost half a foot by the end of the month.

That last rain event brought our monthly precipitation total to 3.19 inches, 0.58 inches more than the February average of 2.61 inches. For the year to date we’re already 0.39 inches above average. The dam’s control structures (weir and gate) remained unchanged for the whole month with the gate open about 4″ and no stop logs in the weir. Minimum flows will rise from the current 11.3 cfs to 35.9 cfs on March 15th at which time we’ll open the gate some more to provide the increased outflows, and will probably start adding stop logs to the weir to start raising the lake level to normal spring levels. Continue reading →

January 2020

I have archived the January 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). Not a lot to say about this chart! The lake level remained a little higher than we want it this time of year, but not outrageously so. We’ve been trying to keep it down around -1.50 to -1.75 feet below the high water mark; the actual level has fluctuated from a low of -1.52 feet and a high of -1.09 feet, a range of only 0.43 feet. We received 3.00 inches of precipitation, a little shy of the average for January of 3.19 inches. Much of the precipitation was in the form of rain. Not a lot of snow out there.

December 2019

And 2019 is a wrap! I have archived the December 2019 Water Level Chart (at left). The most interesting thing about the December chart is once again, how much precipitation we received. It’s been a wet year and December was no exception. It still amazes me how much water can flow into- and out of- Clary Lake in a relatively short period of time. More on that later. In addition to the monthly chart I’ve also archived a bunch of other charts including the 2019 whole-year chart, the 2019 flows chart, the 2019 precipitation chart, and by the time I’m done probably a few more charts as well. You’ll find ALL of them in the 2019 Water Level Charts archive. I love charts. Does it show? Continue reading →

I have archived the November 2019 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing the November chart shows is nothing much! We got a lot of rain (3.75 inches), but not as much as in a normal November (4.58 inches), the month with the highest rainfall on average. We were hoping to keep the lake level around 1 foot below the HWM without overspending our water budget and we did mostly OK until a series of rain storms in the latter half of the month brought the lake level back up to within less than 1/2 foot of the top of the dam. Rather than overspend our water budget, we ended up with water in the bank so to speak. Not really a problem, but not what we were looking for. We ended the month only a 10th of a foot or so lower that we started. We’re currently letting out close to 60 cfs in an attempt to drop the lake to a more normal level for this season. Continue reading →

October 2019

I have archived the October 2019 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing the October chart shows is Holy Hannah did we get a lot of rain 🙂 We started the month 0.85 inches BELOW average and ended the month just shy of 3 inches ABOVE average for this date. All told we received 8.28 inches of rain in October whereas average rainfall for October is a “only” 4.45 inches. We received almost twice that. We’re now at 39.02 inches for the year, just 5 inches shy of what we’d expect to receive for the whole year, and we still have 2 months to go (see Precipitation chart below). All that rain complicated our efforts to draw the lake down this fall, and currently the water level sits at around 0.60 feet below the HWM, give or take- a level more appropriate for mid to late Summer. Continue reading →

September 2019

I have archived the September 2019 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing the September chart shows is how dry it’s been! We received only 1.97 inches of rain, just a little over 1/2 the September normal rainfall of 3.84 inches. As of the end of August we were 1 inch above normal rainfall, but the lack of rainfall in September means we’re now 0.85 inches BELOW normal for this date. Hopefully precipitation will pick up later this fall.

Despite the lack of rainfall in September, the lake level remained well within our target range of -0.50 to -1.0 feet below the HWM (high water mark) while maintaining the required minimum flows. We attribute this relative lake level stability to our management practices (as described in our Water Level Management Plan) and the repairs we performed last Fall which have reduced leaks to a minimum. Per our plan, we will continue to gradually lower the lake level in October to between 1 and 1.5 feet below the high water mark, and we expect to reach the maximum draw down of approximately 2 feet below the HWM by the end of November where it will remain until early Spring.

August 2019

I have archived the August 2019 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing about this chart is how much rain we received during what has traditionally been the driest month of the year. August started out dry, but it wasn’t long before we broke the Summer drought trend started in July. We received a total of 3.70 inches or 0.37 inches more than the average for August. This rainfall helped keep the lake level right about where we wanted it all month. For the year to date we’re 1 inch above average.

Minimum flows for the period from July 1st until September 15th are 1.9 cfs (cubic feet per second) which is about how much leaks through the dam. Minimum flows rise to 3.5 cfs on September 16th. The minimum flows vary throughout the year as follows:

• 11.3 cfs between January 1 and March 15;
• 35.9 between March 16 and May 15;
• 8.3 cfs between May 16 and June 30;
• 1.9 cfs between July 1 and September 15;
• 3.5 cfs between September 16 and November 15; and
• 15.5 cfs between November 16 and December 31.

I’m still tweaking the monthly water level chart from time to time, but don’t expect major changes. I like this one.