Rain received over the Christmas weekend filled Hulah Lake beyond the normal water elevation into the flood control portion of the lake, resulting in some of it being released in accordance with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ policy, Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen said Monday.
“Hulah and Copan lakes were constructed to serve as flood control for the area, so a significant portion of both lakes is reserved for that purpose,” Lauritsen said. “The policy of the Corp is to release any water in the flood control portion to free up this portion of the lake. So last week, the Corp notified us that they intend to make this release, and that release started last Tuesday.
“The Corp will continue this release until the lake is approximately 0.5 feet above the water conservation elevation, which is what we use for water supply. We requested that the release from Hulah be as small as possible to keep this water as long as possible.”
As of Monday morning, the overall water remaining is 71 percent, compared to last week’s 72.1 percent. Weighted water supply based on water right is 124.6 percent. Last week was 128 percent.
“This drop is due to the release from Hulah Lake,” Lauritsen said.
Unfortunately, Copan Lake did not receive much inflow, Lauritsen said.
“Copan Lake is currently at 36 percent,” he said. “That lake is down about seven and a half feet. While we do not rely heavily on water from that lake — we have rights to just 1 million gallons per day (mgd) from Copan — this is a huge problem for the communities that rely on the lake.”
The average water consumption last week was 4.02 million gallons per day.
For more information, see Important Water Information and Water 101.