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valentinescott
Member
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Posted: Jun 22, 2014 Post Subject: Flows and Lake Level
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| | Does flow at this site imply that the lake is low and there is current all the way to Wards Ferry? Does any one have information on lake levels that would affect your paddle out or need for a tow? When is Pinball exposed, etc. ? Thanks for the beta.
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chris
Site Admin
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| Posted: Jun 22, 2014 |
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| The gauge reports gauge height, which USGS converts to flow using a rating table (conversion chart). Dreamflows reports both the actual gauge height and the computed flow.
This is the first year of operation and this is a low-water year, so it's hard to know exactly how this will play out, but I expect that when the lake gets full the gauge will report a constant high gauge height reading, which will then get reported as a constant high flow reading, irrespective of whether there's any actual flow or not.
Right now you can see that the Wards Ferry gauge is fluctuating more or less as expected, though, so I think it's safe to assume that the water level is at or below the gauge, and since the gauge is only 500 feet above Wards Ferry we can assume there's little or no paddle out.
As for the paddle out - the way to tell is really by knowing the lake level, which up to now Dreamflows hasn't been reporting, but I'll change that.
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chris
Site Admin
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| Dreamflows is now reporting reservoir elevation here: http://www.dreamflows.com/flows.php?page=real&zone=canv&form=norm&mark=All#Site654.
As I write, it's reporting 732.22 ft (above sea level). The topo indicates the normal (non-flooded) water level at Wards Ferry Bridge is a little over 800 feet (perhaps the 816 feet marked on the topo?). Based on this, there should currently be no paddle out, with a margin of a couple miles. [One shouldn't be too literal with these readings and computations since the Don Pedro elevation is measured miles downstream, and the topo contour lines are 50 feet apart, but the above should give a reasonable idea of how far the reservoir extends].
Everyone who paddles the Lower "T" and wants to share - as the lake level rises and we start getting a paddle out, please post your findings here (or send me email). Useful information would be a date (and time more-or-less) plus where the paddle-out started, best as you can determine. We're trying to build up a database here so if you're a little high and someone else is a little low, it'll balance out. The important part is to share the info  .
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