Good news for Lakes Benbrook and Arlington but what will pumping 160 million gallons a day from RC and CC do to those lakes???
From the Ft Worth Startle-gram....
I'm gonna post the whole article below the URL in case some of ya'll care not click the link.
I've never fished or been on RC or CC but this can't be good for those lakes ...
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/13838833.htm Cities prepare for dry times
$20 million effort giving two lakes a liftBy BRYON OKADASTAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Water levels at Benbrook Lake and Lake Arlington are slowly rising, the result of an unprecedented effort by the Tarrant Regional Water District to move millions of gallons of water to the key water supplies of Fort Worth and Arlington before spring and summer, both expected to be parched, drought-ravaged seasons.
From Ennis to Waxahachie, massive Tarrant Regional Water District pumps are pushing 160 million gallons of water each day from the Cedar Creek and Richland Chambers reservoirs 75 miles southeast of Fort Worth to key lakes that supply water to most of Tarrant County.
The 80-million-gallon-a-day Benbrook Lake effort started a little more than a week ago. The 80-million-gallon-a-day Lake Arlington effort has been going on for the better part of 10 months now, said Dave Marshall, Engineering Services Director for the Tarrant Regional Water District. The combined amounts, which will cost the district between $15 million and $20 million this fiscal year, have never been attempted, or needed, by the district.
"We've never had to pump this much water before," Marshall said. "We're setting records, and there's no rainfall to help fill the reservoirs."
If the drought lasts through the summer -- and the National Weather Service indicates that it might -- water demands for Fort Worth and Arlington could reach record levels, as they did during the worst spate of wildfires last month. Typically the Cedar Creek and Richland Chambers reservoirs can handle the summer demand, Marshall said.
This year district officials aren't so sure.
"The pipelines can move a lot of water, but they can't move all of what's needed," Marshall said.
So the district is moving the water now, using three 15,000-horsepower pump stations to push water through a 72-inch pipeline at Cedar Creek and a 90-inch pipe at Richland Chambers.
The effort is Tarrant-centric -- 92 percent of the water district's supply goes to Tarrant County.
Fort Worth gets its water from four major sources:
West Fork of the Trinity River (Lake Worth, Eagle Mountain Lake, Lake Bridgeport).
Clear Fork of the Trinity River via Lake Benbrook.
Cedar Creek Reservoir.
Richland Chambers Reservoir.
Arlington, utilities director Julie Hunt said, gets its water from two major sources:
John F. Kubala Treatment Plant via the Tarrant Regional Water District line.
Pierce Burch Treatment Plant via Lake Arlington.
Both cities have asked residents to voluntarily limit water usage, particularly during daylight hours.
They say the hope is that lake levels in Benbrook and Arlington can be brought up to or at least close to "conservation pool" levels -- the highest level a lake can reach before a release downstream is mandated -- by this summer.
So far, Fort Worth is at the first level of its four-stage Drought Contingency/Water Management Emergency Plan, which calls for residents to voluntarily limit watering their lawns to once every five days, with no watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Stage one also calls for voluntary limits on watering golf course fairways.
The idea, city officials say, is to allow residents to water their yards efficiently, keeping roots alive, but no more than that.
"We never know how long this is going to last," said Mary Gugliuzza, public education coordinator for the Fort Worth Water Department. "I wouldn't say it's critical, but anything done now can prolong the life of the existing supplies."
Right now, the water district is operating at 78 percent of its capacity. Harsher restrictions would only be imposed at much lower levels, such as 50 percent (water every fifth day) or 25 percent (no outdoor watering), Marshall said.
And how long would the drought have to be to reach those levels?
"Sometime in late 2007, we might hit 50 percent," Marshall said.
If, in September or October of 2007, there hasn't been enough rain, the drought will be worse than the one in the 1950s, which was the "doomsday" capacity the current water management system was designed to handle.
We're still a long way from that.
"Most of the area is 5 feet down," says Joe Harris, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. "I don't know that we'd call 5 feet down extreme or critical. Just bad. I know 7 feet is worse off. Benbrook is low. Arlington is pretty doggone low."
But hopefully not for long, water district officials say.
tight lines
tha BassRustlin / Hybrid Huntin RedNeck
