Note from Bruce. The question comes up again and again about the promise the Dallas Water Utility folks made at the meeting in Emory in 2015. That they would not pump during the spawn. OK they said they wouldn't pump until 2025. That is another subject.
The 395 million they took out in January is but a drop in the bucket compared to the billions they take out the rest of the year.
But they are sticking to their promise about pumping during the spawn. I say THANK YOU!

Below are the pumping, water releases and evaporation for February 2017. The current surface acres of Lake Fork is at 24,716 acres versus 27,690 acres when the lake is full. That means we have about 2,974 acres of exposed shoreline that would be covered by water if the lake was at full pool. The lake did come up by 151 acre-feet in the last month.


February 2017



Evaporation for February 2017 = 4.27 inches or about 8,795 acre-feet. This is the equivalent of about 2,87 billion gallons of water lost by evaporation in February.


Rainfall Recorded at the SRA Headquarters for February 2017 = 2.60 inches.


Water Released for February 2017 by the SRA for Downstream Communities (including water pumped by Bright Star Salem and the City of Quitman) = 455.3 acre-feet. This equals about 0.22 inches taken off the lake in February and equals about 148 million gallons of water. Communities that receive downstream water include Kilgore, Longview, Henderson and Texas Eastman in Longview.


Water Pumped by Dallas for February 2017 = 0 acre-feet and 0 gallons.


Water Released by the SRA through the Tainter Flood Gates for February 2017 = 0 acre-feet.


So, the total water removed from Lake Fork for February 2017 = 9,250 acre-feet or 4.49 inches of water taken off the surface of the lake. This equals about 3.014 billion gallons of water removed from the lake during February. 95% of that water removal was from evaporation during February.


2017 Totals Through February 2017


Evaporation for 2017 = 6.91 inches or about 0.58 feet, which equals about 14,200 acre-feet. This equals about 4.63 billion gallons of water removed through evaporation.


Rainfall Recorded at the SRA Headquarters for 2017 = 8.17 inches.


Water Released by the SRA to Downstream Communities for 2017 = 1,044.3 acre-feet, which equals about 0.51 inches of water off the lake. This equals about 340 million gallons of water released to downstream communities that have rights to the water.


Water Pumped by Dallas for 2017 = 1.214.4 acre-feet or about 395 million gallons. This equals about 0.59 inches of water taken off the lake from Dallas pumping through February.


Water Released by the the SRA through the Tainter Flood Gates = 0 acre feet so far in 2017.



So, the total amount of water removed from Lake Fork so far in 2017 is about 16,459 acre-feet or about 0.67 feet of water or about 8 inches off the lake. About 86% of that has been through evaporation so far this year.


Best wishes and as usual hope/pray for rain.


Steve Chick