WATER RISING FAST AT LAKE SOMERVILLE

  

The level of Lake Somerville is rising rapidly due to recent heavy rains, and water is expected to flow over the spillway by this weekend.

As of noon Thursday, Lake Somerville was at 257.16 feet above sea level…that’s five feet higher than it was just over 48 hours earlier….and 19 feet higher than the lake’s normal level.

Lake Somerville up feature

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, which operates the dam at Lake Somerville, currently has all of the floodgates closed due to flooding downstream on the Yegua and Brazos rivers.

A spokesperson for the Corp of Engineers says they expect the lake to reach the height of the spillway, 258 feet, by Saturday.  It is currently less than one foot from flowing over the spillway.

If no more rain falls in the area, the flood gates may be opened on Friday.  However, the forecast is calling for a 60% chance of rain each day the rest of the week.

 

Spillway 1
Water level at the Lake Somerville spillway at 11am Thursday.

dead fish spillway 1992
Photo from 1992 when Lake Somerville hit a record level of 259.60 and flowed over the spillway killing thousands of fish that became trapped on the backside of the spillway.

 

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2 Comments

  1. Just remembe one thing, your dealing with Fed govt on this, they will only tell you
    what you want to hear! I was there in 92 during the last uprising of water on Somerville,
    a real feast for local birds for days!

    Hopefully the Brazos will recede enough for the gates to be activated!

  2. What will happen if/when the water spills over? Just more road closures? Or do citizens need to be preparing for possible evacuations?

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