Below are the pumping, water releases and evaporation for December 2016. It is interesting to note that the lake is currently at 24,202 surface acres versus 27,690 surface acres at full pool. That means we have 3,488 acres of exposed shoreline that would be under water if the lake was at full pool. Also included below are the final totals for calendar year 2016.


December 2016



Evaporation for December 2016 = 2.41 inches or about 4861 acre-feet. This is the equivalent of about 1.58 billion gallons of water lost by evaporation.

Rainfall Recorded at the SRA Headquarters for December 2016 = 2.71 inches.

Water Released for December 2016 by the SRA for Downstream Communities = 1,653.8 acre-feet or about 0.82 inches off the lake. This equals about 539 million gallons of water.

Water Pumped by Dallas for December 2016 = 7,353.8 acre-feet or about 3.65 inches of water off the lake. This equals about 2.4 billion gallons of water pumped by Dallas in December.

Water Released by the SRA through the Tainter Flood Gates for December 2016 = 0 acre-feet.


So, the total water removed from Lake Fork for December 2016 = 13,868.6 acre feet or about 6.88 inches. This is the first month of the year that Dallas pumping has exceeded evaporation. This equals about 4.5 billion gallons of water removed from Lake Fork in December.


Final 2016 Totals

Evaporation for 2016 = 73.53 inches or about 6.13 feet, which equals about 159,000 acre-feet (this is approximate because as the lake drops the surface area shrinks). This is equal to about 51.8 billion gallons of water leaving the lake through evaporation for calendar year 2016.

Rainfall Recorded at the SRA Headquarters for 2016 = 44.96 inches or about 3.75 feet.

Water Released for 2016 by the SRA for Downstream Communities = 8,812.7 acre-feet or about 4.07 inches off the lake. This equals about 2.87 billion gallons of water released to downstream communities that have rights to the water. This includes the water diverted by Bright Star Salem and the City of Quitman.

Water Pumped by Dallas for 2016 = 62,119.50 acre-feet or about 2.4 feet or about 28.8 inches taken off the lake by Dallas pumping. This equals about 20.2 billion gallons of water removed though pumping by Dallas for calendar year 2016.

Water Released by the SRA through the Tainter Flood Gates for 2016 = 290,064 acre-feet or about 10.5 feet or about 126 inches. This represents about 94.5 billion gallons of water released through the flood gates earlier this year to protect the flood gates from over topping.


So, the total amount of water removed from Lake Fork during 2016 was about 520,000 acre-feet or about 20 feet. about 56% of that was for releases through the flood gates to protect the flood gates from over topping earlier this year. About 31% of the water was lost through evaporation. About 12% was removed through Dallas pumping.


The 62,119.50 acre-feet pumped by Dallas actually is only about 47% of what they are entitled to take in a year. Dallas averaged pumping about 55 million gallons per day over the entire year. Last year (2015) Dallas pumped 57,994 acre-feet, so they continue to pump less than 50% of what they may eventually take annually. The total water lost off the lake in 2015 was about 22 feet compared to the 20 feet in 2016.


Best wishes and Happy New Year!! If anyone prefers to not receive this report please let me know and I will remove your email address from the group.


Steve Chick

(Note-congrats to Steve for becoming the new lake Fork Anglers president.) Bruce

Thanks for the update Bruce

Wonder if Lake Fork will ever be at full pool again. Thinking fishing was much better when it was.

Thanks for these reports
Great info