Flood control engineers to drop water level at Archusa Lake

By Staff
special to The Star
May 6, 2004
The Pat Harrison Waterway District will drop the pool level of the Archusa Creek Water Park reservoir back to 212 feet from the current summer pool level of 215 feet.
The adjustment is needed so that work can continue to seal a construction joint on the secondary spillway.
Pat Harrison engineers said the work should only take a few days but the process of getting the reservoir pool level down to 212 feet will take two to three weeks. That's if it doesn't rain, which would make the process take longer. Barring consistent or heavy rainfall, the engineers plan to have the water level back up by Memorial Day weekend.
During April, the reservoir level was raised to 215 feet and maintained there for more than two weeks to test the integrity of the seal work completed earlier in the month. Fortunately, this full pool level coincided with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and the park never looked better.
Pat Harrison Waterway District would like to thank the citizens of Clarke and surrounding counties for their patience during this process.
Boat launching for fishing will be allowed during this process, however, skiing and jet-skiing will be restricted to "no use" during this drawdown of the lake. Swimming will also be suspended.
Provided they get the break in the weather, Pat Harrison workers will return the reservoir to its normal summer pool level. The construction joint and its new seal will be monitored during the water level rise.
Pat Harrison reserves the right to drop the pool level without notice in anticipation of large scale rain events, such as may be caused by a hurricane or a strong frontal system, to fulfill our flood control mission as authorized by state law.