Saturday, February 19, 2011

2/19/11 Update

                        Elevation               Change from 2/4/11      Summer Min
Mendota         848.64                  +0.10 ft                             - 0.96 ft
Monona          844.57                  +0 .02 ft                            - 0.13 ft
Waubesa         844.30                  + 0.01 ft                           - 0.20 ft
Kegonsa         842.42                  no change                       - 0.58 ft

The Lake Monona gage was back in operation on February 7th.  Data was posted back to February 1, 2011 on the above website.
We have received 0.15 inches of precipitation in the form of snowfall since February 4th, 2011  .
Snow fall from December 1, 2010 to date, is 57.6 inches compared to the norm of 30.8 inches.  Snow depth is 9 inches compared to the last report of 19 inches.
Currently Lake Mendota is 0.44 ft above Winter Minimum. We increased flow out of Mendota this week by about 50 cfs.  This was in anticipation of the a partial snow met this week.  We expect to maintain this flow rate for  the next few days.   Locks and dams at both Babcock County Park and Lafollette County Park remain completely open since April, in full flow conditionLake Kegonsa remains 0.17 ft above Winter Minimum.
The Stoughton Dam is operating near mid range of their water level orders.  Discharge at the Fortun St location is 345 cfs compared to the long term median of 294 cfs.
We will be taking in to consideration actual precipitation received this weekend as regards to the expectation when the Summer Minimum Levels take effect later in March.

Monday, February 7, 2011

2/5/11 Update

                        Elevation               Change from January 22, 2011   
 
Mendota         848.54                  +0.06 ft
Monona          NA                      NA
Waubesa         844.20                  No change
Kegonsa         842.52                  - 0.10 ft
 
The Lake Monona gage has been off line since January 17, due to icing problems.  I expect Lake Monona continues to respond similarly to Lake Waubesa.
 
We have received 0.75 inches of precipitation in the form of snowfall since January 22, 2011    .
 
Snow fall from December 1, 2010 to date, is 55.2 inches compared to the norm of 26.6 inches.  We have a snow pack of 19 inches
 
Currently Lake Mendota is 0.4 ft above Winter Minimum.  Flow out of Lake Mendota remains steady in order to allow Lakes Monona and Waubesa to drop.  We expect to maintain this flow rate for the next few weeks.
 
Locks and dams at both Babcock County Park and Lafollette County Park remain completely open since April, in full flow condition.
 
Lake Kegonsa is 0.17 ft above Winter Minimum.
 
The Stoughton Dam is operating near the low end of their water level orders.  We are not able to collect velocity data at the Fortun St location, most likely to icing problems.  Yesterday's discharge was 194 cfs compared to a median average of 245 cfs. 
 
For more information on lake management issues, please see the Dane County website at: http://countyofdane.com/lwrd/landconservation/lakelevelpg.aspx