The Garden City Telegram
Email this story | Add Your Comment
| Read (0) Comments
Reservoir filling up
Published 9/12/2009 in Local News
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
sfarley@gctelegram.com
HorseThief Reservoir is about a third of the way full of water after recent rains, according to the Pawnee Watershed District Board of Directors.
Click to Purchase Photo Reprints!
Courtesy Photo HorseThief Reservoir is about a third full Friday after a 3 1/2-inch rainfall.
According to watershed board member Sid Shriwise, the reservoir has started filling with water quicker than anticipated because of recent rains, including 3 1/2 inches of rain that fell at the dam site on Monday. Shriwise heard reports of up to five inches of rainfall upstream from the reservoir and dam.
"We have a third full now," he said Friday, adding there's no telling where the water level might end up today with the rain that was expected Friday night.
The more-than-$14-million project includes a dam, lake and recreational area. The project is funded through a .15-cent sales tax approved in 2005 by voters in Hodgeman, Finney, Ford and Gray counties.
Pawnee Watershed District staff and board members also announced that they're not letting water drain from the reservoir. The district had been keeping the principal spillway open to release water from the reservoir to allow for construction. The principal spillway is a pipe extending through the dam that is designed and sized to release excess water from the reservoir in a controlled manner. The water eventually ends up in the Pawnee River.
District staff said the valve on the principal spillway of the dam was closed on Tuesday.
Shriwise said the state dam inspector, as well as the Kansas Division of Water Resources through the state's Department of Agriculture, approved closing the valve to capture the rainfall. The Division of Water Resources monitors water rights related to the water flowing downstream from the reservoir.
While the reservoir is about a third full of water, Shriwise said he doesn't anticipate the water level changing too much in the near future unless significant rainfall continues.
Shriwise said the 180 surface acres of water the reservoir currently contains is about 40 percent of the water needed to fill the lake. The higher the water level, the more water it takes to raise the level, he said.
About 6,200 acre-feet (an acre of water a foot deep) of water is needed to fill the reservoir before excess water goes down through a tower and is released from the area. Pawnee Watershed Manager Ron Allen estimated Hodgeman County averages 20 to 21 inches of rainfall a year.
It's estimated that with average weather and rainfall, the lake could fill in four to five years, according to Allen. There have been some years, though, Allen said, that the lake could have filled in a wet season or two.
The reservoir will fill from runoff of rainwater and other precipitation flowing into Buckner Creek and then flowing down into the reservoir.
Shriwise said the rain was enough to cover the lowest boat ramp at the reservoir. But the lake's not ready for boating, yet, he warned, saying the construction and last-minute improvements to the grounds are ongoing.
Grass seeding still needs to be done, Shriwise said, also explaining the general contractor, Max Jantz Excavating, still is touching up dirt work, and construction equipment still is on site.
Shriwise said the district is letting bids next week for construction of the roads leading into the park, as well as for the waterlines and water well. The roads will be built this fall and take about 120 days to construct, Shriwise said.
Shriwise estimated that the park could open sometime after the first of the year.
For more information and photos of the dam, visit www.horsethiefres.com.
Found 0 comment(s)!
Twitter Updates
