There have been a number of members who have commented on the fact that lake levels appear to be lower than in past years. The following information provided by POA Board member Chris Nichols may help understand what is happening.
Lake levels are going down faster than they have in previous years. If you have your boat docked in a shallow cove (usually more in the southern part of the lake) and you’ve only had your place for a few years, you may be unpleasantly surprised how quickly and how far the lake level can go down.
The operator of the dam – Brookfield Renewable – is following the Rule Band which specifies the allowed lake level for the time of year, but due to the hot weather and lack of rain, they are staying right on the bottom end of what they are allowed to keep. In the past few years, we’ve had more rain and fewer hot stretches and they have kept the lake level higher. If you look at the graph of lake levels, we are almost a foot lower now than last year. If the trends of no rain and hot weather continue, it seems likely that Brookfield will hug the bottom of the Rule Band through the rest of the boating season.
