Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	New winter level
Date:	11/27/2016 2:05:38 PM

I really enjoyed it for both of those minutes we had it a couple of weeks ago. I sure hope this rain next week doesn't disintegrate before it gets here. Springs and creeks that survived '07 are dried up. I'm afraid to even have a fire in the fire pit and have seen several roadside fires in the last few weeks.

Name:	BamaNana -	Reply
Subject:	New winter level
Date:	11/27/2016 5:26:46 PM

You're correct to be afraid, Lifer. Having a fire in your fire pit is actually banned/illegal right now. Just one wayward ember could result in a major fire.

http://www.forestry.alabama.gov/burnrestrictions.aspx

Under the Drought Emergency ‘No Burn’ Order, Section 9-13-141 of the Code of Alabama states that it is illegal for any person to set fire to any forest, grass, woods, wildlands or marshes; to build a campfire or bonfire; or to burn trash or other material that may cause a forest, grass or woods fire. Specifically, the regulation prohibits any prescribed burns, any campfire or bonfire, any trash or debris fires, or any other open burning. If convicted, the penalty for violating the No Burn order is up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500.00.

Name:	Aardvark -	Reply
Subject:	New winter level
Date:	11/28/2016 8:27:55 PM

I don't think the lake level will stop dropping until a more normal weather pattern returns.  Hopefully that will happen before Plug Day, because a dry summer could be something nobody wants to think about.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Surprised about the level rise from the rain
Date:	12/1/2016 10:38:10 AM

All the rain and it only raised the level one inch so far.  Have been watching the APCO website and they haven't been too aggressive on the number or length of turbine runs.  Have to admit I expected the rain from the last two days to have more of an impact as there should have been a lot of overland flow.  More rain is coming next week so we will see how that impacts the lake level.

Name:	MrHodja -	Reply
Subject:	Surprised about the level rise from the rain
Date:	12/1/2016 11:30:32 AM

We live east and south of Montgomery proper and are "blessed" with what is known as Prairie mud, prairie soil, or gumbo.  It swells and shrinks based on moisture content.  Prior to the rain the open cracks in the ground were up to four inches wide, three feet deep, And two to five feet long.  I would venture to say the first two inches of rain never left our property.  Also, all of the upstream ponds in the Martin watershed likely captured a good bit of the rain because they were quite low from the lack of rain.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Surprised about the level rise from the rain
Date:	12/1/2016 3:22:34 PM

Lake Martin and its watershed are in the Piedmont Physiographic province.  Soils at the surface are sandy clays and clayey sands versus the soil you see in Montgomery.  Neither are very good at absorbing significant amounts of rainfall like you would see with sandy soils, even in the midst of a drought.  But it's still true that it will hold more water than you would see during periods of normal rainfall. Just didn't think it would be that much different.  However, your point about other surface water features holding the water rather than discharging it to streams that feed the Tallapoosa is a good one.  Most won't discharge until the water level gets to the height of the spillway or pipe so that is a lot of storativity.  

Regardless, I am still disappointed in the lack of increase in water levels but that's just whininess on my part.  :-) 

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	Surprised about the level rise from the rain
Date:	12/1/2016 3:47:58 PM

I think the upper end got more rain than we did just basing it on the radar I looked at during the last few days. The bands of weather were much wider in the north than they were here. We got a lot of rain, but in relatively short amounts of time. I never even had runoff going down the boat ramp which is my indicator of how much rain any system creates. Sometimes I have ground water running down it for several days after a rainy period. Hopefully some of the rain in the upper watershed will migrate down stream over the next couple of days. Hopefully this next system will stay together and bring us some more.

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	Surprised about the level rise from the rain
Date:	12/1/2016 7:11:00 PM

We kind of became students of the rain vs lake levels during the drought of 2007.  What we found out is the lake will see no rise at all during a drought unless we get at least 2" of rain over the whole watershed.  The ground absorbs just about all of the first couple of inches, especially the forests, which mostly comprises the Tallapoosa watershed.  If we get a 4-5 inch rain in a couple of days you will see a marked increase in the lake because the watershed will have runoff.  I noticed yesterday after that inch rain that there were very few puddles, even though we had gotten two inches the day before.  Now the ground is much wetter, so if we get a good rain this weekend (2-3 inches), we could see a 4-6" lake rise.  BTW, APCo has continued to draw a coninuous 1,200 cfs from Martin to keep the snails happy downstream, and to dilute sewage plant effluent from Montgomery, etc.

Name:	Wakely -	Reply
Subject:	Surprised about the level rise from the rain
Date:	12/2/2016 1:11:04 PM

The last time the water was higher than this on this date was 2011. We're almost exactly where we were in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, and we're actually fractionally higher now than we were in any of those years.

Name:	Osms -	Reply
Subject:	You are correct, except
Date:	12/2/2016 2:09:57 PM

We are not working on the old rule curve that would have stopped about December 20 at ten feet down.  Our new rule curve takes the lake down seven feet by November 22, which we never got to, and now we're a foot below where we should be.