Winni Lake Level 2013/14
 

News from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: September 9, 2013
CONTACT: Dan Mattaini, (603) 271-8867
des.nh.gov
twitter.com/NHDES
State Announces Its 2013 Fall Drawdown of Lakes
http://des.nh.gov/organization/divis...9-drawdown.pdf

Not included in this schedule is Lake Winnipesaukee. Unlike the other lakes in this schedule, Lake Winnipesaukee is not purposely drawn down in the fall. Instead, each year on Columbus Day, the releases from Lakeport Dam are reduced from a normal minimum of 250 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a flow between 30 and 50 cfs for a period of up to two weeks to allow for maintenance of the dams and hydropower facilities on the Winnipesaukee River. The flow of 30 to 50 cfs is the minimum flow needed to maintain the downstream aquatic life during this period.
By the middle of the fall, Lake Winnipesaukee is, on average, 15 inches below its springtime full level due to evaporation and releases from the lake that have occurred over the course of the summer. As a result of the reduction in the amount of water released from the dam after Columbus Day, the lake level does not drop for the remainder of the month of October and is generally maintained at this level through the month of December. Depending on the amount of snow on the ground in the winter, the lake level may be lowered further beginning in January to a depth of two feet below the normal full level.
A plot of the average lake levels throughout the year for Lake Winnipesaukee is provided on DES’s website at http://des.nh.gov/organization/divis...vels/index.htm. Also included are updated plots of this year’s lake levels, releases from the dam, and precipitation.

Thanks to Sunset Bob for the link

After looking at the lake levels all last week, I was totally surprised at the lake level when we took the boat out Sunday morning. There seems to have been a huge draw down. Columbus Day? The water was so low, we couldn't utilize the dock at the ramp. First time it was a "chore" to take the boat out. Too, low, too soon............

From Bizer.com...
 

from Bizer.com, it appears we are about in the middle of the pack over the last few years, about 14 inches below full lake.

http://bizer.com/lakelog.png

DES site shows the lake at 503.22 at 8:00 am this morning. This is just over 1' 1" low.

The lake is quite often this low at this point.. There is nothing abnormal about the lake level this year... Actually if you look at the DES site it is above the statical normal for this time.... There seems to have been a change in methodology for controlling the lake level, as most of the year, the lake has maintained itself at a level higher then the statistical mean...

Now the issue at some of the ramps is that they where poorly designed.... especially like the one on Long Island just passed the Bridge....