Louisville, Ky. – In the last 24 hours Patoka Lake Reservoir, Dubois County, Ind., received almost two inches of rain, causing the lake to rise to a pool of 549.5 feet, or 125 percent full, at 6 a.m. today. The dam is structurally sound.
Per the project’s water control plan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be increasing flows from the reservoir’s current 1,400 cubic feet per second combined releases by approximately 300 CFS every hour until combined outflow reaches 6,000 CFS and the pool stabilizes. These releases are part of the original project design and lake management.
Residents in Jasper, Ind., can expect to see an increase of an additional two feet at the Jasper gage. This estimate is highly dependent on local runoff downstream at Patoka Lake Dam. Residents downstream from Jasper (Winslow and Patoka) will also be impacted as the level of Patoka River rises.
Patoka Lake is part of an overall system of reservoirs managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The system is designed to minimize flood damages by storing water caused by heavy rains until the rivers and streams reach levels at which releases from the reservoirs will not cause additional flooding downstream.
The spillway is designed to provide a safe path for the excess flows. Then, water from the spillway re-enters downstream of the dam. Water releases are managed by Corps’ hydrology and hydraulics departments in concert with other government agencies.
The Corps coordinates with local, state and other emergency management agencies and officials to share information on current conditions at its reservoirs.
Lake levels and other information for Corps lakes can be found at this web address: http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/opto.
For flood information through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, visit: http://bit.ly/2011flood.
To monitor real time lake level information please visit the USGS web site at:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv/?site_no=03318005&agency_cd=USGS
Release no. 11-017