Lake Kaweah releasing water as dam fills up, officials say. May cause flooding
Officials say they are monitoring Kaweah Lake and Terminus Dam as the region has been pelted with rainfall in recent weeks.
They assured residents the dam is not close to overflowing, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District.
“However, USACE teams are now monitoring the dam and lake levels around the clock and are coordinating with state and local partners to update release projections multiple times per day,” they said in a news release on Tuesday.
Terminus Dam has hit its maximum (what experts call “gross pool”) — most recently in June 2011, according to Ken Wright, a public affairs specialist for the corps.
The water has never gone over the top of the dam, he said. The top of the dam has an elevation of 750 ft and the spillway crest is 715 ft.
The Sequoia Parks Conservancy the same day shared photos of the lake that show a visibly evident difference on Tuesday compared to Friday.
Water is flowing out of the spillway at 4,200 cubic feet per second and will go up to about 7,800 cfs by Wednesday afternoon, the corps said. Then the flow will decline into the weekend as less rainfall adds to the lake.
There is a potential for localized flooding downstream from Terminus Dam, the corps said.
Sources for monitoring emergencies:
- Tulare County Office of Emergency Services, https://oes.tularecounty.ca.gov/oes/
- Tulare County emergencies, https://tularecounty.ca.gov/emergencies/
- Tulare County evacuation notices, https://tularecounty.ca.gov/emergencies/evacuation-orders-warnings/
- California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, www.caloes.ca.gov
- Cellphone text alerts, https://www.alerttc.com/
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 1:39 PM.
