[Greene's Basin Girl]

Originally Posted by thebix

Take a look at Smith Mountain Lake in Bedford / Franklin counties, Virginia.

This is 'Lake Winni, south'. Remember the Bill Murray / Richard Dreyfuss 1991 movie, 'What About Bob'? Takes place on Lake Winni, but actually filmed at SML.

I've spent the last 8 summers there.

It's a pumped storage hydro power project, build and run by the electric power company.
Their permit requires a certain water flow downstream, even if drought conditions result in less water entering the lake. So in the southwest Virginia droughts of 2007 and 2008 the levels dropped by the end of the summer (into October, summer lasts longer there!) 3-4 feet!

Had to set the boat lift on the bottom to get the boat off. And hope the level didn't drop too much while we were out.

And when there is demand for hydro power the level can drop a foot during the day! (HOT July weekends, 90+, create huge electric demands). The pumped storage part refills the lake overnight, so Sunday AM the level is almost back to the Saturday AM level.

So a day-to-day fluctuation of a foot or more is common!

See this link to the water levels:
http://www.smithmountainlakelevel.com/SMLLevelWeb.exe

Change the first date to 2006 and see how it dropped 3-4 feet from full pond in past years.
2009 has been kinder.
Then set the dates for say Sept 5 - 9, and see how it fluctuates up to a foot in one day.

I resided on Smith Mountain Lake, in Moneta , when they were filming the movie. I was told that they filmed it there instead of NH, because they wanted a place with a later fall for filming. It was fun because I saw the actor'rs when they were filming. Winnipesaukee is certainly more pristine than Smith Mountain Lake ( in my opinion) and the water is much clearer. Of course as you know SML is man-made. I loved how long the fall was though in Moneta. I use to skull and I remember rowing in January. My boat tipped over and of course the lake was extremely cold, but it wasn't frozen.