Water level questions

What is the deal with the water levels being so low? With all this rain you would expect the lake to be within a foot of full by now. I know TVA must have a reason for it, just wondering what is going on. We have a tournament first week of April up there, a weekday club tourney and just wondering if they will be letting it come up any before then. Thanks guys.
 

RRB32

New member
its on schedule of normal operating range.. They begin bringing it up around the first week of April and usually reaches full pool by week or two in May. You can check it out here..
https://www.tva.gov/Environment/Lake-Levels/Chickamauga/Chickamauga-Operating-Guide

Here's an excerpt from the operating guide explaining:

"TVA uses operating guides for each reservoir to make decisions about moving water through its dams. These guides are based on many decades of operating experience. They are built around the idea of allowing seasonal variations in the use of flood storage space.

Operating guides take into consideration all the features that influence a reservoir’s ability to store and release water—the size and shape of the surrounding watershed, the reservoir’s surface area and the average rainfall and runoff—as well as historical demands for water use and flood storage space at different times of the year."
 

Nauticman

Active member
Minimum pool 675, summer pool 682.5, top of gates 685. TVA keeps the lake level low for spring rain flood storage then starts raising the level beginning April 1. Full summer pool is usually reached mid-to late April.
 

jb366

Member
Like has been said, they keep it low for the rainy season and the forecast shows a good amount of rain coming middle of this week so that's why its lower than normal right now. Keep in mind that Norris/Melton Hill, Douglas, Cherokee, and The Hiwasse all flow through the chick on their way down stream. An inch of rain into all of those lakes is a ton of water that has to go somewhere.
 

derek81

Active member
It's the lowest I have ever seen and I don't care what the TVA graphs or historical data says. There are places I frequent I have never seen dry before and they were yesterday
 

porthos33

New member
Yep this is Officially the lowest it has been! It got all the way down to 674.82 at 8am and it is 675.05 right now. I guess they must be dredging dayton like people said in an earlier post. Possibly dock repairs too. Not sure
 

RRB32

New member
No dredging going on in Dayton but it needs it! lol.. I about got stuck coming back to the ramp yesterday evening, the water had dropped quite a bit while I was out. I was rubbing bottom trying to get to the ramp on the strait stretch from the ramp to the bend.
 

Will9246

New member
I don’t know how much truth there is to it but I heard they were working on something at Watts bar and they were having to keep the lake extremely low to repair it. I’ve lived on the lake for three years now and this is the most rain we’ve Had yet it’s the lowest I’ve seen the lake so far. I know TVA brought a huge turbine in On a barge last year. Not sure if that’s what they’re replacing. Normally the TVA lake app is pretty accurate but I believe they’ve been fudging on the numbers a little bit here lately.
 

Creedmoor

Member
I have been driving past Harrison Bay on hwy 58 for 20 years and today it was the lowest that I have ever seen based on the size of the island that pops up just off hwy 58 at Wolftever.
 

derek81

Active member
Will9246 - 3/26/2018 7:43 PM

I don’t know how much truth there is to it but I heard they were working on something at Watts bar and they were having to keep the lake extremely low to repair it. I’ve lived on the lake for three years now and this is the most rain we’ve Had yet it’s the lowest I’ve seen the lake so far. I know TVA brought a huge turbine in On a barge last year. Not sure if that’s what they’re replacing. Normally the TVA lake app is pretty accurate but I believe they’ve been fudging on the numbers a little bit here lately.

You just made that crap up didn't you?
 

jb366

Member
RRB32 - 3/26/2018 2:24 PM

No dredging going on in Dayton but it needs it! lol.. I about got stuck coming back to the ramp yesterday evening, the water had dropped quite a bit while I was out. I was rubbing bottom trying to get to the ramp on the strait stretch from the ramp to the bend.

Looks like you're the dredging crew.
 

silvertalon

Active member
FishingwithRusty - 3/26/2018 12:53 PM

ive shared this several times but LOVE the graph:
http://www.chickamaugalake.info/Level/

I like and use this graph often as well. If you look at last year's levels, they are a couple of feet higher than this year. Grass grows on exposed ground when the lake is low. I believe that when the water rises, grass will bloom better and we may very well see better shallow vegetation this year because of that. IMO
 
silvertalon - 3/27/2018 10:08 AM
FishingwithRusty - 3/26/2018 12:53 PM ive shared this several times but LOVE the graph: http://www.chickamaugalake.info/Level/
I like and use this graph often as well. If you look at last year's levels, they are a couple of feet higher than this year. Grass grows on exposed ground when the lake is low. I believe that when the water rises, grass will bloom better and we may very well see better shallow vegetation this year because of that. IMO
</p>

I hope yourright, butI have never seen hydrilla/milfoil grow on dry land </p>

</p><font face="Times-Roman">

</p><p align="LEFT">Habitat Alteration: The most common habitat alteration used for aquatic</p>

vegetation control is a winter lake drawdown. A drawdown can be effective to reduce</p>

nuisance vegetation if you allow several weeks of drying time and expose the Eurasian</p>

watermilfoil root crowns to sub-freezing temperatures. Careful consideration must be</p>

given to the effect on the fish community as a result of a drawdown. You should consult</p>

with a fisheries biologist before implementing this control method so as to not put the</p>

fishery at risk.</p>

http://www.in.gov/dnr/files/EURASIAN_WATERMILFOIL.pdf</p></font>

</p>
 

jb366

Member
We're in the clear with subfreezing temperatures and we won't have a few weeks of drying time. Tva forecasts the lake to come back up and the rain will keep anything that is exposed that is not normally from drying and dying. The lower water should actually benefit the initial growing since we've had muddy and stained water for such a long period by letting light get to the grass that it wouldn't be getting to if the lake was a couple feet higher.
 
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