FORT WORTH, Texas – The Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lavon Lake will conduct gate maintenance Thursday, April 30 as part of routine maintenance operations.
Like any facility, the dam requires routine maintenance to ensure everything is in good, working order when it is needed for flood mitigation to protect the public. Some of the routine maintenance involves opening gates and releasing water downstream. Thursday morning, the Fort Worth District will operate each gate to check serviceability while Lavon is in flood stage and releasing water.
“In order to accomplish this without increasing outflows, we will close one of the three open gates and open/close each of the remaining gates one at a time. We know the public is concerned about the water releases and want to ensure we are transparent in our operations and communications,” said Michael Kinard, Lavon Lake Manager, Fort Worth District.
Lavon Lake reached normal, or conservation pool level late Saturday, and continued to rise throughout the weekend, reaching 492.89 feet mean sea level (msl) by Monday morning. Corps Officials made the decision Monday morning to begin releases to ensure adequate capacity in the event of future storms in accordance with the Lavon Lake Water Control Plan.
As the releases started, the lake still had inflows of approximately 800 cubic feet per second. Over a period of one hour, three gates were raised six inches each, which equals approximately 1,100 cfs. Even with the releases, the lake continued to rise to 493.16 feet msl by Tuesday evening due to the already saturated and back-logged upper system and rains late Monday night.
“It is extremely difficult to conduct routine maintenance on the gates at the Lavon Lake Dam when so many people rely on the water for public consumption,” Kinard added. “While we try to always be good stewards of the water, we must also maintain the dam and equipment that operates the gates.”
“It is great to have the lake full again. Not only does it provide the much needed drinking water for many communities around Lavon Lake, it also provides great recreational opportunities that have been in short supply over the past couple of years,” said Steve Perrin, Lavon Lake Lead Ranger. “Whether it’s fishing, skiing, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, or any other water activity, it’s imperative that you wear the proper life jacket.”
For more information about Lavon Lake, visit our web site at: www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/lavon .
Questions pertaining to Lavon Lake can be addressed to: Mr. Michael Kinard, Lake Manager, CESWF-OD-LA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 3375 Skyview Drive, Wylie, Texas 75098, (972) 442-3141.
-30-