Sandlin is almost five ft low right now, two ft lower than this time last year. Water hasn't came out of the spillway in THREE years. That's one reason pines has stayed low. Cypress is not full and sandlin won't catch much water until it is. We haven't had enough rain to fill these lakes the last couple of years to keep up with usage. I think most of the blame is the drought, not an evil conspiracy.

I agree that Pines would fill up quicker if Sandlin was full and that Sandlin would fill up quicker is Cypress filled up. Sandlin has been low for a couple of years now. Last year at this time (May/KYKX Tournament), Pines was full but water was released to return the level to what it was before the spring rains. It seems like Pines has a greater watershed than Sandlin.

I've seen pines lower than what it is now...be thankful that we can still fish it..

I think everyone has seen it much lower than it is now. Caddo has been full for 2-3 months now, why are they still letting out water?

That is the bottom line right now....Caddo is full, so slow the flow going out. Seems pretty simple.

I can understand pumping water to Longview, etc.

I've heard a plethora of reasons why the lake is low. From working on the 155 bridge, someone cutting timber up by Lonestar, I also heard they were trying to float the salvania out of caddo.


Close the gates on the damn!

Ring the bell around three.

There trying flush the savania out of Caddo so that's some of the reason they have water coming out. I love fishing Pines even though Caddo is my home lake. Wish more to do bout it but until Mother Nature comes around. It's out our hands

saw this maybe it might help


All about Lake O� the Pines water levels By Jo Lee Ferguson answerline@news-journal.com Longview News-Journal

QUESTION: The normal winter pool elevation at Lake O� the Pines is two feet higher than the Corps summer pool elevation. Each year, regardless of present level or predicted drought or predicted rainfall, they will lower it to the summer pool elevation beginning May 1. That appears to be what occurred this year even with drought predictions. Why?

ANSWER: It appears you have been given some incorrect information somewhere along the line.

I spoke with Ricky Maxey, natural resources specialist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office at Lake O� the Pines. (The Corps of Engineers oversees the lake.) He said the Corp aims for a lake elevation of 230 feet mean sea level in the summer and 228 feet in the wintertime. There�s typically more flooding events during the winter, and that�s the reason the winter level is lower, Maxey explained. (The elevation as of Friday was 226.2 feet.)

It�s probably important to point out, too, that the lake exists for a number of reasons, and I would say the recreation that occurs there might be the least important of those reasons.

One of the lake�s primary purposes is flood control, Maxey said, and not just the Big Cypress Bayou where the dam was built for the lake. It provides flood control for the Red River Basin as well. Maxey said decisions about changing the lake level for flood control are made at the Corps� office in Forth Worth based on data.

�It�s not just counting up what�s going on here at the lake,� he said.

On top of that, the lake provides �environmental flows� for Caddo Lake as needed. That means water is released from Lake O� the Pines into Caddo Lake to refresh environmentally significant oxbows along Cypress Creek.

�We did do one of those earlier this year,� Maxey said.

�We did let out an environmental flow, but we had plenty of water then,� he added. �Not too long after that the rain kind of slowed down significantly.�

That is something to keep in mind as well � nature controls much of the lake level, too. Also, Northeast Texas Municipal Water District provides water from the lake to a number of area cities.

***

Q

Sounds like that chiropractor is a piece of work.

I sure wish someone with the COE would step up and explain why this was done.

It all goes back to when the floods come nobody wants to get fired because the lake can't hold back the water that it needs to because it was already pool.

That sandlin cypress talk doesn't hold water cuz last year during the spring for about 3-4 weeks the lake jumped up and was actually really close to pool, I would say within 6" and they sucked her down as fast as she came up, and sandlin and cypress were still low as piss during that time.

Also I totally agree with the statement of 228.5 not being full pool, they have changed their numbers all the time, I have seen the lake at a lot of levels, and es the low water 7 years ago was for sure lower than now. But in my opinion 229.5-230 is pool on that lake and as far as I'm concerned they can roll her up to 232 and keep her there and you wouldn't hear a peep out of me!

This guy^^^^^ lol 😲😲🙊🙊

They ain't fixing sqawt on that lake neither, first thing they need to fix is the toilet paper roll holder at cedar springs, and maybe put some toilet paper in there!

It's the paddlefish' fault.

I can't say what role it played this spring, but during spring of 2012, the COE allowed excessive amounts of water to be released from LOP to facilitate the spawning of the paddlefish, since the impoundment of reservoirs everywhere has pretty much put a stop to their spawning altogether... they need fast moving (oxxygenated) water flowing over rocky/gravel shoals to for their eggs to survive. Matter of fact, I can take you to a stretch of the Big Cypress Bayou where barges have dumped tons of gravel for this.

We took land from native americans and sent them on their way, but we're giving water back to the prehistoric fish that are "so critical" to the equilibrium of our east texas waterways...

Anyway, the bottom line (IMO) is that more political strings get pulled by our government agencies than you'd see at a puppet convention.