Cumberland News

[triton99]

An article just appeared on courierjournal.com that outlines the Corps plan to fix Wolf Creek Dam. They are pulling it to ten feet below winter pool starting NOW, and the end result will be the lake will spend at least a year at more than 40 feet below the tree line. According to the article, 90% of the boat ramps will be useless during this period. So the questions are...

1) What is the impact on the fishery? 1a) Specifically, what is the impact on stripers, since they are in need of very deep, cool water?

2) What is the economic impact? 2a) Did the Corps bother to warn the local merchants?

3) Where are the ramps that are in the accesible 10%? 3a) How will this affect tournaments for the coming year?

[jcb]

2) What is the economic impact?

It's in the article:
"The Corps estimated that the lower lake level will mean a loss of $9.4 million in direct tourism spending in lake counties this summer — including gas purchases at marinas — and a loss of $3.4 million in personal income to tourism-industry employees."

--Lou. Courier-Journal, Jan. 22, 2007 (CORRECTION: This is from the Herald-Leader article by Bill Estep - forum at lakecumberland.com has links mis-labeled..)

[apb]

I would think that the impact on the stripers will be minimal if the levels stay pretty consistant. There will be plenty of cool water in the lake and it is plenty deep. I suspect that there will be a greater impact on other species: bass and panfish, that prefer structure such as trees/brush. The latter will likely rot (those that stay above the winter pool) leaving less structure once the lake fills back up.

I would also be interested in what ramps will still be useable.

Andrew

[KYHorseflys]

Feds must drop Lake Cumberland water level

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reducing the water level on Lake Cumberland to relieve pressure on and make repairs to the weakened Wolf Creek Dam.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said Monday that he got word of the corps’ decision Friday afternoon.

“This could have a substantial economic impact on the area,” Fletcher said at a news conference. “There’s more than 4.7 million visitors who spend $73.3 million hours at Lake Cumberland annually. We estimate that in that four-county area alone (Clinton, Russell, Wayne and Pulaski) that the economic impact of tourism is about $152.6 million.”

The move is being undertaken to reduce risk to people living downstream from the dam, said Lt. Col. Steven J. Roemhildt of the Corps of Engineers.

“Public safety is our paramount concern,” he said in a statement. “... We must take this emergency action to reduce risk to the public and to the dam itself.”

The Corps of Engineers said it considers Wolf Creek Dam one of its “highest-risk” dams.

The level of the lake will be drawn down to 680 feet immediately, the corps said, 10 feet below the normal level of 690 feet in the winter. The normal level in the summer is 723 feet.

Thus, after the reduction, the lake’s water surface would be 43 feet below the tree line during summer months.

That could edge Lake Cumberland out of the list of the nation’s largest freshwater lakes, said Craig Shoe, resource manager for the Corps of Engineers.

The drawdown is expected to last about a year while repairs are made.

Fletcher said he has put together a team of state officials to help communities around the lake in south-central Kentucky deal with the economic consequences.

Commerce Secretary George Ward said as many as 90 percent of the launching ramps will be unusable because they won’t reach the water’s surface.

The dam in question, a 240-foot-high embankment built near Jamestown in the early 1950s, holds back 101 miles of the Cumberland River. The lake was built as part of a federal plan to control floods in the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

Roemhildt said the foundation of the dam has seepage problems that could weaken the structure. He said crews already have begun pumping grout into the ground to reduce erosion.

“A high level of risk does exist,” he said. “Reducing lake levels lowers pressure on the dam and pumping grout into the ground lessens erosion, both of which immediately reduce risk.”

[KYHorseflys]

How hard would it be to extend the launching ramps so that they do reach the water?

[redneckshadrap]

I just had a customer walk in and tell me he was affliated with someone in the legal standpoint, that has them taking Cumberland all the way down to the river channel.
Now bear in mind with all the rumors it's hard to believe everything even the truth.

I guess we'll know soon enough.

Billy

[smljaw]

I saw this story as well. I might soon be part of that negative economic impact, as much as I don't want to be. Pulling that much water that fast can't be good for fishing in the short term. Instead of fishing C-land next weekend we might opt for Laurel or Dale.

[bassin_bug]

Please read this very disturbing message about Lake Cumberland dam and take the necessary precautions if you are in the "Danger Area."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070122/.../dangerous_dam

[Bass Jr. Executive]

Seems this would present itself as a good time to shore up and or extend the bottom of those ramps that get rough when the water is low. That might be a good economic turn for some concrete/paving companies.

[peter]

Anybody know what level they are taking id down to.

[peter]

If so. Do you have any information.

[KYHorseflys]

Check out the Cumberland News thread, there's an article posted there from the courier-journal.com website that talks a lot about it.

Oooops, meant to reply to your previous post... sorry!