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Name:
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longtimer
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Subject:
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Answering a question...
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Date:
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6/17/2007 11:34:51 PM
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I was catching up on several pages worth of posts, and came across the following question: "WHY CAN'T MARTIN BE A FLOW OF THE RIVER LAKE LIKE MITCHELL AND LAY?"
Surprisingly, no one ever answered the question, which was posed by someone with the clever-esque handle of Kizma Anuice. (Who wants to bet that Kizma "rules the school?")
Anyway, here is the answer:
Yes, Lay Lake and Lake Mitchell are what is known as "run of the river" lakes; Lake Martin, in contrast, is an impoundment, or reservoir.
Run of the river lakes release the water about as fast as it comes into the lake; the water flows into the lake, through the turbines, and on downstream.
Reservoirs hold the water, and release it later as need be. There can be releases for hydroelectric generation, flood control, downstream water management, environmental reasons, and so on; the important thing to remember is that the water is held back for a time.
So how is the lake affected by its status as either a run of the river lake, or a reservoir? Take a look at these links, all maps of run of the river lakes in Alabama:
Lay Lake: http://www.laylake.info/Nav3.asp
Lake Mitchell: http://www.lakemitchell.info/Nav3.asp
Yates Lake: http://yates.uslakes.info/Nav3.asp
Now compare those to our own Lake Martin: http://www.lakemartin.com/Nav3.asp
Can you see the difference?
The bottom line is this: were the Power Company to decide to give Kizma what he wants, Martin Dam would hold LESS water back. In short order, the shores of Lake Martin would be very close to what the shores of the Tallapoosa River were before the dam was built. Everything west of the Dixie Sailing Club would not longer be anywhere near the water, and a good portion of what now lies east of the main channel would dry up, as well.
If you want to visualize what "run of the river Lake Martin" would look like, take a current map of the lake, locate the river channel, and trace it with a nice fat magic marker. The path made by the magic marker would represent the waters of Lake Martin.
Now, Kizma, is that really what you want?
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