This weekend’s rainfall cross the region helped raise the water levels at Center Hill Lake.
US Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Adam Bingham said the lake has been rising slowly over several days as the watershed reacts to the precipitation. Bingham said the interconnected nature of the Cumberland River basin dams means water from upstream reservoirs like Dale Hollow will continue to trickle down and raise lake levels further in the coming weeks.
“We did desperately need that rain to raise the water level, otherwise, you know, if it was completely dry this Memorial Day weekend with the water level being too low, I don’t think visitor satisfaction would have been very great,” Bingham said. “And so while I understand a lot of people were upset about the rain, it is a very needed change for this lake.”
Bingham said there is typically a lag time between rainfall and visible rises in the lake level. Bingham said the area recently experienced a drought that left water levels lower than desired for the start of the season.
“You’d have to go way far out to get your boat in the water and sometimes it makes it a lot harder for people to put their boat in the water and that might deter people from coming to this lake,” Bingham said.
Bingham said low water levels also impact day-use areas and beaches by forcing visitors to sit on dirt rather than sand. Bingham said while lower levels provide more shoreline access for fishing or picnics, most visitors come to Center Hill Lake specifically for its deep water.
“The lake level during the peak recreation season, that really is what changes everything,” Bingham said. “If the lake level’s really high you could get flooding, if the lake level’s really low then you have less visitor satisfaction.”
Bingham said the Corps of Engineers monitors levels closely because energy usage and generation needs increase during the summer months to power cooling systems. Bingham said the current forecast for additional rain makes him hopeful that the lake will reach a comfortable level for all types of recreation.
“I can’t give you an exact timeline on that, but here soon especially within these next couple of weeks I think we can expect that the lake level will be perfect for the peak recreation season,” Bingham said.
