Saturday, April 23, 2016

Lake Ivie Up 8,500 Acre Feet: Reduces Pressure on Twin Buttes


Since San Angelo's City Council declared Drought Level I restrictions most area lakes received beneficial runoff rains.  Lake Nasworthy went from 8,010 acre feet to 8,529, an increase of over 500 acre feet.


Lake Ivie went from 66,866 acre feet to 75,410.  That's 8,500 acre feet higher from beneficial rains. Add Twin Buttes North Pool rise of 1,570 acre feet (from 15,410 to 16,987 acre feet) and the City has over seven additional months of water.   In addition Twin Buttes South Pool holds roughly 6,000 acre feet

Staff went to City Council with a very conservative "26 months of water" left.  That's now 33 months.  This is a blessing for our community.  We'll see when Council reconsiders their Drought Level 1 designation.

Update 4-24-16:  As of this morning Ivie holds 75,700 acre feet of water.

Update 4-26-16:  Ivie is now up nearly 10,000 acre feet with storms in the area. 

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Twin Buttes Up Nearly 3 Feet


Twin Buttes Reservoir's North Pool is up nearly three feet from December levels. This is due to steady flow from the South Concho River and two creeks, Dove Creek and Spring Creek. Twin Buttes is the only lake in the city's water supply arsenal to rise over this period. Weather predictions call for a wet weekend with potential runoff.


The National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement:

HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE THIS WEEKEND ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...

A POTENT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL APPROACH WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS WEEKEND... BRINGING WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.  WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW... 

1. THE MOST WIDESPREAD AND HEAVIEST RAINFALL IS MOST LIKELY SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. 

2. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE LIKELY... WITH TOTALS OVER 4 INCHES POSSIBLE IN SOME LOCATIONS. 

3. WITH SOILS STILL WET FROM THE RAIN ON TUESDAY... RAINFALL THIS WEEKEND SHOULD QUICKLY SATURATE THE SOIL. FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS... LOW WATER CROSSINGS... AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL. 
IN ADDITION... ALTHOUGH THE HEAVY RAINFALL IS THE GREATEST THREAT... A FEW STORMS REACHING SEVERE LEVELS CAN NOT BE RULED OUT. THE STORM SYSTEM WILL BE SLOW TO MOVE... SO SOME CHANCE OF RAIN WILL LINGER WELL INTO NEXT WEEK. RESIDENTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR A VERY WET WEEKEND
A blessing may be on its way.