Winter Pool.

[Waterlogged]

I was curious if anyone could tell me why the corps of engineers pull lakes down 20+ feet during the colder months in the year.

[jessejames556]

It was my understanding that they do it to prepare the lake to sustain the wet winter and spring months for flood control

[basshole8190]

Like jessejames said its in anticipation of heavy rains associated with winter and early spring

[CKFishin]

Also on alot of lakes its for breakwall, dock, and seawall repairs from my understanding

[tbone1993]

Besides the flood preparation it is also for producing electricity. In the winter we use lights more often and thus there is more need for power. Also in the summer you would want to have more water because it evaporates especially during droughts and as stated above when the winter snow melts there will be an increased amount of flooding if the lake is not drained. Sorry if this is scatter brained, it is finals week and my brain has gone to mush. 

[00 mod]

To add onto everything that has been said, it is also a pest control issue here in the south. Mosquitoes breeding grounds specifically.

 

Jeff

[Waterlogged]

Ahhhh makes a lot of sense!

[A-Jay]

To add onto everything that has been said, it is also a pest control issue here in the south. Mosquitoes breeding grounds specifically.

 

Jeff

 

x2

 

A-Jay

[quanjig]

Weed control on some bodies of water as well.

[Raul]

Down here it´s because of irrigation, in Mexico we have spring/summer crops ( like corn, cotton and such  ) and fall/winter crops ( wheat, barley, oats  and such ), spring/summer crops normally ( unless there´s drought ) don´t need irrigation because their growth cycle takes place during the wet months ( May-Oct ) but fall/winter crops do need irrigation because their growth cycle takes places during the dry months ( Nov-Apr ), by March lakes are at their lowest levels and stay there until late May when the rainy season starts

[RoLo]

In northerly latitudes, the pool level in manmade lakes (reservoirs) is usually lowered in winter to accommodate

the runoff from melting snow throughout the watershed. Here in Florida, we're dealing mostly with natural lakes

which depend chiefly on the natural rainfall cycle, and nature's plan is impeccable. Our rainy season is

Jun, Jul & Aug so the annual low on natural lakes is typically during the winter (many lakes are already down).

Exposing shoreline terrain kills back invasive littoral plants that would otherwise overtake beneficial plants

(e.g. pickerelweed vs. maidencane). About every 7 years or when funds are available, Florida will drastically

lower the water level on selected major lakes to remove detritus (decaying vegetation), an operation they call

"Muck Scraping". Lake Kissimmee is still benefiting today from a muck-scraping performed several years back.

Another example of a lake benefiting from extremely low water levels is Lake Okeechobee. 

 

Roger

[deadadrift89]

Weed control on some bodies of water as well.

I fish a 200ac. lake and they drop level 6' every Winter to help control Water Hyacinth.