Anti-taxxer said:
Can someone explain to me what it means that rivers and dams are releasing water? Like I'm five?
Does it just mean that they are overflowing?
The lakes have gates to control the releases. The big ones in our area are Conroe, Houston, and Livingston. Houston and Conroe are for water supply and recreation only. They have(essentially) zero flood storage capacity. Once they're full they MUST open the gates and let the water continue down river.
Lake Livingston does have some storage capacity, but not much and I don't believe flood is one of it's design purposes, but I could be mistaken.
In addition to gates, these dams also have emergency spillways that are just free overflow structures. If the water reaches that level gravity does the rest. For contribute I think they just raise the gates until they're above the water.
Livingston is relating record accounts from it's gates AND it's 0.1 ft below it's emergency spillway. At 205 ft, Conroe is about a foot and a half below it's maximum design water level. Conroe Ingles though are decreasing. Livingston I don't think has peaked.