Lake Level
 

Heading to the lake next week, what should I expect for lake levels? Have they been releasing water? Thanks. Mike

With all the rain the lake I now almost 4 inches over full lake. The dam was recently opened to 800 CFS and now to about 1400 CFS. The effectiveness, of course, depends on how much more rain we get tomorrow but we then are supposed to get a week stretch of little rain. That's good because everything is pretty saturated. Even so, it's going to take at least a week to get rid of the excess water.

Here is the message from 7 AM on July 2nd
 

here is what they said about the flow:

The level of Lake Winnipesaukee is at 504.60. The discharge at Lakeport Dam is 1260 cfs.
Flow will be increased today to 1500 cfs.

Here is the Lake Level as of 6 PM on the 2nd:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=label>07/02/2013 18:00</TD><TD class=label>504.63</TD><TD class=label>0.00</TD><TD class=label>63.2</TD></TR><TR><TD class=label>07/02/2013 17:00</TD><TD class=label>504.64</TD><TD class=label>0.00</TD><TD class=label>63.3</TD></TR><TR><TD class=label>07/02/2013 16:00</TD><TD class=label>504.64</TD><TD class=label>0.00</TD><TD class=label>63.1</TD></TR><TR><TD class=label>07/02/2013 15:00</TD><TD class=label>504.64</TD><TD class=label>0.01</TD><TD class=label>62.8</TD></TR><TR><TD class=label>07/02/2013 14:00</TD><TD class=label>504.64</TD><TD class=label>0.01</TD><TD class=label>62.0</TD></TR><TR><TD class=label>07/02/2013 13:00</TD><TD class=label>504.63</TD><TD class=label>0.01</TD><TD class=label>61.9</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Yup that is right at 4 inches of full lake.

Here is a song for today...sung to the tune of Mr. Sandman:

Mr. Dam man, give me a break, get the level down on this here ol' lake.
With all the rain and also the thunder, I have a bridge I have to get under.
Mr. Dam man...hear this dire plea, there are dock tops I want to see, so
Mr. Dam man, give us a break.

Downstream, the Merrimack is running VERY high for this time of year. I suspect they can only release so much water at the dam before this becomes a problem.

I called the Data phone this morning, and the lake continues to rise... It sounds as though even DES is getting quite frustrated at this point.....

I am not surprised, there has been a LOT of rain in parts of the state in just the last couple of weeks. I would imagine that is difficult to manage.

At what point do they generally impose wake restrictions?

Sorry if this is a dumb question but is 3.7" above full lake significant enough to worry about wake restrictions? At what level is a concern (other than not being able to get under rt. 11)?

Driving through Meredith and seeing the lake level this AM, I am surprised they have not put in wake restrictions

Have any pictures of what you're referring to?

They are loathe to put in No Wake restrictions.... I think the last time they did that the lake was almost 10" over Full Lake....


Woodsy

They have just increased the dam flow to 1700CFS. http://www2.des.state.nh.us/RTi_Home...E=Lakeport+Dam

I agree with Woodsy. It's unlikely they will impose a no wake ban unless the water goes up another 4 inches or more.

We are projected to have only isolated thunderstorms for the next week so the lake level should start coming down soon, about an inch a day if no significant rain adds to it. There is still a lot of run off from the soaking we have been getting so that's why I'm guessing it will take a week. It's far from an exact science to predict how the watershed for the lake will dump or retain water.

gambling
 

The lake got ahead of them this year. THIS LINK shows that the lake is above the statistical standard deviation, yet there was a recent period where the flow was low, even as the level spiked. Now, they are trying to catch up by setting the flow to ludicrous speed. Kayaking the Winnipesaukee river this weekend should be a hoot.

It is frustrating to see the levels so high, when so much tax money is poured into keeping the water quality from getting worse. The highest level since 1998, combined with holiday level boat wake, erodes a lot a of silt into the lake. When you see sandy bottoms turn into muck, you can blame the dam policy for some of the impact.

The no-wake rule really doesn't get serious consideration until the lake approaches 505.5 feet above sea level, another 10+ inches above where we are now. 505.0 would be a better trigger. The lake will age a decade this weekend if the weather is nice.

The sky is falling again.:laugh:

I have checked the levels per the NH website....level yesterday was at 504.47 Note.....full lake level is 504.32. Unless I am wrong, the lake is not 4 inches over full...it is just barely over the full mark by .15 inches. I certainly will stand to be corrected if my info is wrong.

504.64 at 7PM tonight 7-3
 

Full lake is 504.32 and the level is at 504.64. That is .32 feet above full lake. every 0.083 ft equals one inch. That puts it at 3.8 or 3.9 inches over full lake, depending on how much rounding off you want to do.

And that is close enough to keep my boat in Parker Marine til we get below 504.58 or so.

Old data?
 

Not sure what web site you are looking at but here is the one I reference and I believe is up to date.

http://www2.des.state.nh.us/rti_data/wein3_TABLE.HTML

Lakeport dam output lowered from 1700CFS when I checked it yesterday back to 1400CFS. As others have pointed out, there may be restrictions downstream.

Site I was referring to is by NH DES.... http://des.nh.gov/organization/divis.../chart2013.pdf

Obviously there are differences in two sets of NH data...typical. Safe to say it is between 2 and 4 inches over full pond. Should help floating rocks.

One report is hourly, the other daily. Look at the morning readings if you want to compare the two.

Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate the local insight. Mike

Just in case anyone is wondering
 

We are now slightly below full lake. :D