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The primary tributaries for falls lake are the Eno, Flat and Little rivers (about 70% of the watershed). The Eno is free flowing, while the Little and Flat fill Durham's reservoirs...until those reservoirs are filled only a minimal amount of water flows down to falls.
At any rate, there has been only one significant rainfall that has brought these rivers up in the last 120 days (back in early Sept). Now that the leaves are dropping, there will be alot more runoff for a given amount of rain, but it will take a couple good 3000+ floods on the upstream rivers to get falls filled.
well whatever the reason ( I personally think the Army Corp is pulling way more water and have been since July) the fishing is the worst I've seen since 84'. The fishing started a decline in July and steadily gotten worse. With budget cuts all over the place who knows what is going on (or not going on) at the lake. I just wish they would stop pulling so much water out. It's about at the point where if you don't know the lake really well you better not put your boat in.
I've noticed it too. I think much of it is that some of the rains we got just did not fall in the Falls watershed. If you notice Jordan lake is doing better and rain that falls at the Willet where the measurement is taken will drain to Jordan.
I meant to say that rain that falls at the AIRPORT drains into Jordan. I guess that's what I get posting from an airport with an iPhone. Autocorrect is better Than it used to be but still has issues.
Despite the fact that the rainfall at RDU is above normal since Jan. 1st and way above normal since August, Falls Lake level is four feet below normal. I don't understand how the lake can signficantly drop during a period of significant rain. Rainfall since August 2nd is almost 6 inches above normal. I do realize that the rainfall for the past 12 month is down almost 1.5 inches but I don't see how that translates into 4 feet down in the lake level. When I compare all the graphs, it doesn't make sense.
Is the Army Corps of Engineers releasing water on purpose? Anyone know? Lake Levels -- Normal vs. Actual :: WRAL.com RDU Rainfall Totals -- Normal vs. Actual :: WRAL.com
RDU is not a good indicator of runoff in the Falls watershed. It's more informative to look at what's happening in the Eno, Flat and Little River watersheds, as toot68 stated. As you can see the flows in those areas have been below average pretty much through the summer into the fall. Rainfall directly on Falls Lake doesn't have a huge impact on water levels unless there is also a significant contribution from the upstream watersheds.
Also, on average the lake is drawn down below the normal/guide elevation at this time of the year.
They're going to dredge the lake to create an adequate water supply to support the growth in the area.
And then they'll lift the water restrictions.
And then people will be able to use more water.
And then the City of Raleigh will rollback that rate increase that was "necessary" because we all did such a great job conserving water.
Ooops, the dog barked and woke me up. I was dreaming.
If you can't handle the modest increase in the fee you pay for water (which is still very cheap and doesn't reflect the true cost to deliver safe potable water to your tap) then I would love to see your reaction to the price tag for "dredging the lake".
In my experience few people grasp the enormity of such a dredging project and the untold millions of $$ it would cost. Also, if you have suggestions on where to stage the millions of tons of sediment that would be collected as a result I'm sure the city of Raleigh will welcome your input.
Looks like rain north and west of town was in the 1-2" range over the past day. Perhaps we will see some increases soon?
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