Have any of the recent rains (Dolly, etc) have any impact on the level of the lake?

If the level of Falcon is not real low, the weather guys don't talk about the lake. I guess it isn't news. They also don't report on the rainfall past Roma so it is hard to tell if there is rain in the watershed.

We have had a lot of rainfall in the mid valley since July 4th, I think about 20 inches in Edinburg, but this doesn't affect the lake levels. The sugar cane growers continue to irrigate regardless of rain.

It looked last night like there was some significant rain up in the Webb county area and I think there was mention of an extra foot of water in the lake, but that we were still behind where we were last year. The international Boundary and Water Commission may have a website that has the information that you are seeking.

[This message has been edited by oldvalleyrat (edited 8/23/2008 4:52p).]

Here it is:


STORED WATER IN LARGE RESERVOIRS OF THE RIO GRANDE BASIN
(Capacities and Storages in Million M3, Elevations in Meters)

Reservoir Date Hour Normal Flood Current 24-hr
Cons. Control Elev. Storage Storage
Capacity Capacity Change

ELEPHANT BUTTE
22-Aug-08 8:00 2496 2496 1324.745 728 -4
CABALLO
22-Aug-08 0:00 280 403 1264.075 67 0
AMISTAD
22-Aug-08 0:00 4040 6025 335.165 2817 1
Requested 6:00 U.S. 30.00 CMS
Release MEX. 3.00 CMS
FALCON
22-Aug-08 0:00 3265 3897 83.470 1153 4
Requested 6:00 U.S. 8.00 CMS
Release MEX. 3.00 CMS

Thanks OBR; the SA weather wienies used to give the levels of the area lakes, but not recently. Falcon was always the worst off; was just curious if things had improved.

Falcon will always be worse off than Amistad because Falcon is a large shallow lake with lots of surface area. Amistad is deeper with less surface area. More surface area equals more evaporation, so they keep more of the water in Amistad.

quote:

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August 26, 2008: The lake has come up nine inches in the last twenty four hours, and I expect something similar in the next twenty four, and then a slower rise, tapering off by late in the week. It could happen that we get up to about 23 feet from full before this is all over. But there is a better chance of rain later in the week, and there is also that tropical storm down in the Caribbean.. And you never know... We have had over ten inches of rain here in Zapata since the first of the month. And this country looks like a jungle..

We now have about fifteen feet, give or take, of water over the last growth of bushes and trees that are currently submerged in the lake. We were down to about ten feet from the "no bush line".

We are currently sitting at 276.22, or 24.8 feet low. And a lot of water from the river is hitting the lake today. Many of the creeks have receded to a great degree, and their influence will lessen day by day.

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