Winnipesaukee Forum - Water Levels Normal???

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Water Levels Normal???

Right up front this is a newbie question:

Our first year on the lake and are amazed at the difference in water levels from the spring. Not only are our steps to the water completely dry but several inches beyond that before there is water. Quite a difference from the start of the season...is this typical?

No problem except that the bow of the boat when docked is close to being on land!!

Thanks!

Give or take a few inches, yes this is pretty normal.

See this chart for historical reference:

http://bizer.com/bztnews.htm#lakelevel

This is from the Bizer website, as you can see the average spring water depth is 1.22 feet higher than the fall. This fall we are a little lower than normal, were down about 3 inches below average for the date. Hopefully we're getting to the bottom, but unless we get some rain, it can go lower.

http://www.bizer.com/lakelog.png

Very interesting! Thanks for the historical perspective. We'll just back the boat out a few feet on the dock as we squeeze out a few more days on the lake. Thanks again.

Some of the best boating is in the fall- you have 2 more months especially if your boat is in the water. The water will keep the motor warm enough so it won't freeze.

I was in until almost Thanksgiving last year! http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ghlight=rotten

Actually I am surprised that the lake is not lower considering the lack of meaningful rain over the summer. The flow at the Lakeport dam is running at a bare bones minimum of 250 to 270 cfs. Evaporation takes a toll in a dry summer, this from a DES site on the Winni watershed at

http://www2.des.state.nh.us/RTi_Home/winni.asp

Quote:

The deeded release rate listed above along with significant summer
evaporation results in a drop of the lake level by approximately 15 inches
throughout the summer months. The evaporation rate alone removes water at a
rate approximately equal to the 250 cfs release rate at the dam. Every 250
cfs drops the lake level by 0.01’ per day, so with evaporation and no rainfall
the lake can be expected to drop 0.02’ or about a quarter inch per day.
Historically there is a lack of offsetting runoff in the lake summer months
so that the only source of water available to maintain the lake level is water
stored from the spring runoff.
In anticipation of this drop throughout the summer, a starting summer target
elevation is set for Lake Winnipesaukee of 504.32’ to allow for enough water
to be able to keep the lake as close to usable level as possible at the end
of the summer and into the early fall.

I was told by two of the marinas that in the beginning of the year they treated Opeechee (spelling) and kept the dam closed for a while to make sure that nothing would come into the Lakeport Area.

Which is why the water stayed so high into the season with no rain, and then all of a sudden it dropped dramatically over August

Water level is below our bumpers on our docks. Usually that is about winter level. We set them that way so in the Spring the ice flows don't grab the bottoms of the bumpers and rip them off....:D

The lake level is dropping quickly. It lost about 2.6 inches in the past week. Normal loss this time of year is about 1.2 inches per week.

The lake level is a bit below the fall datum used for Bizer's chart of Winnipesaukee, so be very cautious in shallow areas.

In response to earlier posts, I'd like to point out that Winnipesaukee's normal annual fluctuation of fifteen inches or so is pretty small for a lake of this size. Lake Champlain, for example, typically fluctuates about five feet over the course of a year. The Great Lakes each fluctuate about three feet. Lake Powell, Utah, fluctuates so much (up to fifty feet per year) that there's a web site listing which launch sites are open.

http://www.bizer.com/lakelog.png

As I posted elsewhere, looks like Winni is now experiencing the rapid drop we saw on Merrymeeting earlier in August.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...32&postcount=9