Low Winni Water Level
 

Anyone know why the lake level is so low ?

Welcome to the Forum. The lake level is consistent with some past years:

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


Alan

Awaiting the northern melt and spring rains


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The level of the lake is allowed, via NH state management of the Lakeport dam, to drift down about 1.22 foot in the fall and to rise back up to "full pool" starting around mid March. This is mostly done to manage the large spring water surge of snow melting and Spring rains causing local and downstream flooding. Instead of flooding, the lake just fills back up. As can be seen in the Bizer graphs, it's not an exact process and is dependent on the whims of nature (multiple significant rainstorms, drought) and with an eye on the downstream effects (flooding) of significant water releases from Winnipesaukee, as well as minimal requirements of the water turbine generators just downstream of the dam.

The more extreme deviations from these limits, boat launch difficulties and rock collisions in the fall and shoreline erosion in the spring, generates considerable angst and curmudgeonly grumbling on this forum.

As already noted, the current lake level is almost "exactly" where it should be for this time of year. The Lakeport dam is at a minimal 250 CFS flow, retaining the snowmelt and any rain until the lake fills up again. Once that happens, the dam will open up to dump excess water as necessary unless downstream conditions preclude it. If so, it becomes a balancing act until the excess water drains off.

Over Full Lake
 

Based off the side of my dock, I would guess the lake is around 3" OVER the "full lake" level.... Great job by the dam personnel!

Dan

With more rain excepted, let’s see if we can better those 3”


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Just looked at the new and improved DES website (shaking my head)......

The lake is at 504.45 ft. as measured at the Weirs.... .13 feet above full pool or 1.5 inches......

As of this morning they also opened the dam to approx. 630 CFS.....

I agree they have done one heck of a Job getting the lake ready for the season.....

Hopefully this will be a good boating year....

It's great that the dam operators realized that they need to dump some water. I suspect they have been constrained by downstream flooding concerns. Winnisquam is over its normal high level and Silver Lake is full.

At the current dam flow rate, ~640 CFS, it will drop Winnipesaukee (VERY rough calculation based on the max 1920 CFS rate dropping the lake about an inch per day) about 1/3 inch a day, taking about a week to drop the extra couple inches in the lake right now.

The problem is, the next week is predicted to be VERY rainy, with almost 3 inches of rain forecast. With runoff, that could raise the lake 6 inches, or more. That puts us into possible "No Wake" considerations. With the downstream impacted by the rain as well, the Lakeport dam operators are constrained as to how much they can dump. An additional 6 inches of water could take an additional 6 weeks to drain at the current flow rate. Addition Spring rain over that 6 weeks could complicate things even more.

The dam operators have limited choices right now.

Blame Mother Nature. Let the moaning and groaning begin.

JeffK--Good summary. Driving up I-93 yesterday, the river water level appeared quite high in Manchester and Concord. No idea what it's like as you go south into MA. At least we seem to be mostly past the drought conditions of the recent past and have a reduced fire risk. I don't mind a short period of No Wake in the spring, but it's tough on the island commuters. Water is still too cold for much skiing and related water sports. Just hope we don't get big winds and a high water status.

No Wake Lake
 

The last no wake lake that I remember was about 18 years ago if i'm not mistaken... Highly doubt that happens this year.

Dan

The high water no wake week I remember was 4th of July week about 1998. The whole lake was no wake for a week. That is pretty tough for a tourist area.

The island at Silver Sands Marina was under water and people had to walk through the mud to get to their boats. Not fun!

Yes that was the worst I have ever seen it. I remember working with my Dad, to get several boats out of the water as we where up there and many neighbors where not, or need help....

There was a renter several houses down, that had just bought a brand new Checkmate, and had picked it up that week.....

So I just looked at that wonderful new DES Page (yes lots of sarcasm intended).....

The lake appears to be holding its current level, and they increased the out flow another 100 CFS or so This morning
Looking down stream they have gotten Winnisquam to drop around 1 inch since its high of 483
Silver lake is holding steady

Long Story Short lets hope we get a few dry days, and then lake starts to drop.......
Overall I think they Dam operators are doing the best they can

Re: new DES page - yuck! I use that all the time for assessing the relative current in the Weirs channel but now I’m seeing only water level. Where are you seeing the dam outflow number?

On the stations page choose the "Lakeport Dam" station. It defaults to "Point Air Temperature", like anyone cares about the temperature at the dam. Pick "Observed Reservoir Release" from the dropdown list to see the recent/current dam output.

I agree the new DES website is lousy. You cannot generate a link :mad: to anything but the top level stations page and navigating the information is NOT intuitive :rolleye1:.

Rain all week. Tonight through tomorrow, 2". Another inch for the rest of this week. No "dry days" for a while. With runoff, the 3" of rain becomes 6+" of lake level rise for Winnipesaukee, even more for Winnisquam and Silver Lake.

I agree the dam operators are doing the best they can but Winni is going to be very high for several weeks to come and who knows how much more rain may come during the weeks it takes to lower the lake to "normal" levels.

Between April 15 and April 26 the water level at my dock went up by 6 inches

Check out this link.....

https://www.des.nh.gov/sites/g/files...-chart2023.pdf

I agree with the comments about the non-intuitive nature of navigating the DES site. Even trying to find a NH DES email address for providing feedback on the lake info site is a bit elusive. But I did pick one address from the list of DES departments and sent an email, with a request to forward it to the appropriate person in DES. In the email I describe what I found non-intuitive about navigating the site and made suggestions as to how to improve it with simple annotation changes. I hope the next release of the site fixes things at least somewhat.

Bizer updated today
 

Damn rain! Maybe Mother Nature will allow us rain free weekends this summer


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Looked this morning, they continue daily to up the discharge out of lakeport... as of this morning discharge at lake port was up to ~1200 CFS.....The good news is they seem to be keeping the lake level from continuing to climb, although I think the quick calculation I did this morning has us about 6 inches above full pool...

Agreed.

We have another inch of rain expected today and tomorrow and then dry for a week which should let the lake drop about 4 inches at the current dam output. If we don't get too much rain the week after that, the lake should end up around full pool by May 20th or so.

The rain patterns this season, out here on the left coast moving east, have been severe.

Today, it's still raining and it's all moving east, as I will be doing next week.

So are we still in a drought?

Two days of sun and warm temperatures and they will be screaming drought once again


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Should be good weather heading your way soon. It usually stops raining here at the end of April and, if there is 100th of an inch of rain between now and November, it'll be front page news.

The forest fires should start soon and there may be some smoke drifting into New England.

The lake is very high now.

Tell me about it, my beach is half covered and my swim dock, which is on the beach right now, is getting ready to float away.

Lots of docks are underwater. I saw somebody lost all their panels off the top of their dock and said if anybody saw them please let them know.

Here on Winnisquam it’s the highest I personally can remember.


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We have about 4" of height left however wave action will lift the sections. We tie 1/4" cord around each section securing then to the frame. The 1/4" cord fits between decking boards. Use a boat grab hook to fish the line under the frame.

Alan

So yesterday I noticed on the BearCam that the wood dock inserts were removed from the aluminum frame as a precaution for the high water level, at the north end of Bear Island.

Yesterday I was in and out of the cold water many times moving two sailboats, a 17'er and a 12'er, higher up on their embankment ramps. So now they are pretty much as high up the ramps as they can go? Was concerned that incoming waves for hours and days will damage these two sailboats. Time will tell?

What a pain though. Why can't the level just play nice and stay where it belongs?:laugh:

According to DES, Winnisquam is about 7 1/2" above "normal upper level" as of this morning.

While I have a permanent pile driven dock I'm still worried. We live in a very exposed location. Two days ago when the wind picked up the waves were coming over the deck and the dock itself was shaking. What worries me is that when trough to crest of the wave rises under the dock that this constant pounding could lift the dock +/- even the pilings with it. I have seen permanent docks that have actually risen on the far end, higher than at the shore side.
My solution, or perhaps only to put my mind at ease: I took 5 gallon buckets, plastic tubs, and trash cans and filled them with water, 120 gallons in total. So at 8 lbs. per gallon, that's almost 1000 lbs. I have tied all of the containers to the dock so as not to lose them should the wind pick up again.
I will be watching the wind and rain forecast closely.

A week ago, Merrymeeting was still at winter level. It's come up almost 2' since then. So any temporary relief from flow into Alton is now over. We are close to high limit too, as is the river.

Thank you. I am sure it’s been higher, but as I noted. Can’t remember when. On a positive the dock is in a month early


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I use industrial strength tie wraps each season. Easy to install and remove. The reason for this is after 35 years of removing and replacing stainless steel screws most of the hole’s are stripped. Inexpensive on Amazon. Many widths and lengths available


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I'm doing my part, I left my faucet running! :D

Looking at the DES website, release rate out of lake port is ~1500 CFS

Lake level on Winnipesaukee is at ~504.94 and with full lake at 504.32, that means we are ~0.62 feet high, at 1.2 inches per 10th that give us 7.4 inches above full pool....

Interestingly inline with JeffK observation of Winnisquam....

Hopefully we will dry out for a few days, and the lake will have a chance to re-act.....at 1500 CFS, I can usually see a difference from when I go to be at night to when I wake up in the morning........on the various ways I look at the lake level....

They bumped up the output at Lakeport and from Winnisquam after I checked them early this morning.

It's good to get rid of the additional water but, to be honest, going from 1200 CFS to 1500 CFS will only drop Winnipesaukee about an additional inch over a week. It's a BIG lake.

As a reference It appears that outflow changes happen at about 8 A.M. when they happen......

Intriguing to note that the OP asked on April 9 why the lake was so low. 23 days later, we're 6-7 inches above full, and 1" of lake is about 1.2 billion gallons.

The back up question is, How long can we drop 1500 CFS before the downstream folks can't take anymore? Other waters empty into the Merrimack River, not just Winnipesaukee.

Brilliant!!!

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A few years ago I questioned why they didn't increase the discharge rate at night and slow it down during the day. My thought was the Weirs Channel is hazardous to boaters when the current is flowing at a high rate.

If you watch renters trying to exit Thurston's, now Northwater, the current makes it difficult, especially if you have minimum experience or are not familiar with a rental boat.

The answer I got was "we only work days". That explains the changes occurring about 8 AM.

That's a good question and with Winnisquam and Silver Lake still very high, I was surprised they opened up Lakeport as much as they have. I'm sure they are watching that.

Silver Lake is a tiny 202-acres with average depth of just six feet and the Winnipesaukee River, the one and only outflow for 45,440-acre Lake Winnipesaukee runs straight through it with an entry from Lake Winnisquam and an exit south back into the Winnipesaukee River. So basically, Silver Lake is a 202-acre dammed water body that is home to many lake front homes and is part of the ten mile long Winnipesaukee River.

Today, May 3, 2023, the NH Marine Patrol issued a no wake order for motorboats on Silver Lake, in place until its water level recedes to 467.0 feet above sea level, It is currently at the high water level of 470 feet. Normal water level for Silver Lake which is controlled by the Lochmere Dam is at 468 feet.

Silver Lake
 

Silver Lake is now under a no wake order.

Dan

I guess its not a good weekend to launch my surf boat? :D

Our dock frame went in yesterday. While they were putting it in waves coming out of the east were rolling over the top. We are going to hold off putting most of the the decking panels on for fear of them washing away. Maybe just the first 40-50 feet with bungees and rope so that we can tie up.

Our beach is under water, the lake is up to the top of our low stone wall and floating debris is getting dumped on the lawn as the waves roll in. The backyard is under water as well. Can't wait to bring my dogs out to play in it! Yuck!

I was thinking a no wake order would make commuting out of the question for me... we'll see what happens!

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No Wake
 

I honestly don't think you will see a no wake order on Winni... It was higher than this in 2019 and no order was issued. We also have dry weather for the next 10 days....

Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Dan

And the good news it went down a bit. I can see the tip of a rock that was underwater yesterday.

Thumbs Up!
 

That's good news tis as I was worried about having to put pontoons on my tiki bar! :laugh::laugh:

Dan

Well if you need a captain, I have experience with that![emoji6]

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Draw dons
 

I found this on Bizer and thought it relevant:

View of our dock and the mess around it.

That really IS a mess!

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I make no promises but you might be able to cancel the order. :laugh:

What a mess..... I guess yard clean up, is one of the first objective this weekend... I will get to see tonight just how much of my dock is underwater..... good thing I have lots of cinderblocks to weigh it down!!!!!!

today discharge of winnipesaukee is at 1650 CFS,
Discharge out of winnisquam is 2240 CFS
Silver lake is expected to continue to rise through tomorrow

Lake level this afternoon being reported at 505 ft.

The lake level seems to have peaked at 505 from the recent rains (the graph has "leveled" off). That's about 8 inches above "full pool". The current flow at Lakeport dam should drop Winnipesaukee about 6 inches in a week. There is no rain forecast for the next 8 days, highs in the 60's, a fair amount of sun, and some moderate wind = some evaporation. At the end of that forecast period, most of the excess should be gone, if none of the factors mentioned change very much.

You know the lake water temperature has become a State of NH top secret, now, with this new DES website so's for just $1.99 I got a floating water thermometer at Rand's Hardware in Plymouth.

So, who has been in the lake in this early May-2023 high water situation to install or work on a dock or something, and what you think is the water temperature, and how do you know what is the temperature? ..... :eek2:

I dip my toe in first.

As I write, the water level appears to not have changed from earlier this week. Much large debris floating around. With that said the lake is waking up!


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Unfortunately certain "floating condos" from Spinnaker Cove are not respectful of local lakefront properties as they insist on cruising at maximum wake speed causing shorefront damage and floating debris off the shoreline...

As of this morning the lake is slowly starting to come down from the high of 505 ft..............

At its current rate, hopefully we will full lake by Memorial day.... However I am hoping that with a dry week (hopefully), they lake will start to receed at a faster pace....

Winni Water Level
 

“A dry week”. Nice read. Oh course, referencing only the weather


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"Gin Palaces"...
 

Year by year, my shoreline is visibly shedding boulders, trees, and topsoil. Mature trees up-slope are slowly sliding downhill--and it's made worse by these oversized "floating condos".

There's no fix for this, either.

As of this morning, Winnipesaukee has dropped 5 of the 8 inches it was over full. By the end of the week, it should be down to "full pool" and the Lakeport dam flow reduced to hold it there for now. There will be some showers next Sunday but they should not add anything significant to the lake level (~.5").

Winnisquam is still high (+3") but has been going down. Once Lakeport drops its output, it should drop to full spring level pretty quickly.

Silver Lake is still at No Wake levels (+18 past nominal spring high) but, again, once Lakeport cuts its output and with little additional rain, it should trend down much faster. It only needs to drop a few inches for the no wake restriction to be dropped.

Barring additional very heavy rain, things are looking good for Memorial Day boating.

We were in Franklin yesterday to bike the Winni River rail trail. The outflow from the dam in Tilton was at 1,920 cfs matching the outflow from Lakeport.

Having kayaked the lower Winni many times, that was about the max flow making it a very solid class IV run. So the whole system from Lakeport down to Franklin is running at max.

Photo is the surfing wave just below the bridge in Franklin.

Alan

Winnipesaukee and Silver Lake are now down to normal Spring "full" levels. Winnisquam is still about 6" high but with the Lakeport dam shut down to 1000 CFS it should continue to drop. The Winnisquam output has been cut as well.

We are expected to get about an inch of rain Saturday but no other rain is forecast for the next week or so. The runoff should be less because we have had almost 2 weeks of dry weather and the snow melt is done. Most rain will probably soak into the ground.

The lake levels are looking good for Memorial Day weekend and beyond unless we get another BIG, BIG multi day rainfall event.

Could we possibly get a rain free Memorial Day weekend?

Damn it! You said it. Now it will rain. I actually think the water level rose a bit this week in Winnisquam. Neighbors dock frame is underwater. And many others are waiting until Memorial Day weekend hoping it drops a bit. Neither rain or high water boat goes in Monday


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You can sacrifice a chicken and do a sun dance on Weirs beach.

It won't guarantee you nice weather better than anything else but it would be fun to watch. :laugh:

Putting mine in Wednesday or Thursday.

Not sure if Weirs beach is available. This weekend when the city completes cleanup of the homeless camp at the end of Summit Ave Weirs Beach could be occupied. Unless the city agrees to allow encampments on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the parking garage downtown, as some have suggested is a solution. No, seriously people have suggested it. I am up for some fried chicken to ward off the rain!


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Was able to move my very old 30' aluminum seasonal dock from the small front yard down into the big lake, yesterday, using three large foam swim noodles as rollers to roll these ancient dock sections down the four wide concrete steps. I suspect it's a circa-1962 dock or sometime, vintage aluminum dock?

Lake water temperature was 54-degrees which is danged cold for May 25 but it should warm up to 60 very quick in the next week with the forecast 75-80 degrees days, ahead.

For just 2.99 Rand's Hardware in Plymouth has an excellent floating thermometer made by Intex, an Intex-29039 white that sells for 7.49 on Amazon which has a lanyard hole so's it can be hung into the lake from a dock post or worn around your neck ..... :D