Despite plenty of rain the last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports no problems around Dale Hollow or Center Hill Lakes.
Corps of Engineers Hydraulic Engineer Robert Dillingham said it takes five to six inches of rain for issues to begin. Both areas got three inches or less. Dillingham said flooding was also mitigated due to the water runoff plan that was in place.
“We were at zero discharge for Center Hill and Dale Hollow starting on Thursday,” Dillingham said. “We held zero release from both of those dams due to downstream concerns and those concerns are much further downstream than the Upper Cumberland area.”
Dillingham said the Dale Hollow and Center Hill dams not only prevented flooding locally but also downstream of the Cumberland River as well.
“One of the primary reasons they were built was for flood control,” Dillingham said. “That’s what we use them for. That’s why we went to zero-release prior to the weekend and prior to the heavy rains so we were cutting off the flow from the Obed River and from the Caney Fork River.”
