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"Ice-out" on Cedar Lake lake for 2009 - April 6, 2009 "Ice-Over" on Cedar Lake for 2009 - December 13, 2009 2009 Water Level Tracking - On April 16th we installed the staff gauge in the lake at it's home on the northwestern side of the causeway. As we do every year, we will take water level readings approximately twice a week & post the information here on this page. We've started taking readings about 1 week earlier then we did last year. The April 16th lake level reading of 608.86 is just over 3.7 inches higher than our 1st reading of the year in 2008, almost identical to our initial 2007 reading, and is 4.3 inches higher than the court ordered normal lake level. It seems that this is a pretty normal start to open water season on Cedar Lake as far as lake level goes. High Water Level for 2009 - The April 26th lake level of 608.97 (reading of 2.53). We stopped overflowing at the spillways - On Memorial Day the spillways were checked. Even though the staff gauge at the causeway showed that we were 1.44 inches above the court ordered lake level, we have stopped overflowing at the higher western most spillway. The eastern most, lower spillway is barely overflowing. Both spillways are fractions of an inch higher than the court ordered level, so, the discrepancy between the overflow at the north and the lake level at the causeway must be explained by wind action. After a day of heavy rain, on May 28th both spillways were overflowing, albeit, the western one is just a trickle overflow. July 8th Someone has very effectively dammed up the tops of the spillways with mud, sticks, and logs. Opening it up, on the western-most spillway, there is a trickle flow going over. The eastern-most spillway, while dammed up on top, water is below the top. July 30th the piling of debris is most effective. It works in opposition to our goals, masking the problem. A record year, after clearing the debris, the eastern most spillway is still overflowing. Jones Creek stopped flowing - On Memorial Day Jones Creek was not flowing. There is standing water in the creek, but there is no discernable flow. After a day of heavy rain, on May 28th Jones Creek started flowing again. On July 8th Jones Creek was not flowing. This is the 1st time its stopped since May 28th. On July 30th, Jones Creek remains stagnant & is not flowing. Sherman Creek Stopped Flowing - On September 19th checked & Sherman is pretty dried up. Looks like its been awhile since it flowed, perhaps a week? So, Sherman is flowing again on October 11th. Both creeks, amazingly flowed on and off, mostly on, all season long. In the years we've been monitoring this, this year stands out as a dramatic exception to the norm of the creeks drying up in late June to early July for the entire recreational season. Jones Creek - September 19th, Jones is still trickling along. Very light trickle, only perceptible at constrictions in the creek, but amazingly, still flowing. See the note above for the final word on the flow of creeks for this year. Fall Creek Flow - So, from November 3rd, or thereabouts when we were at our low for the season of 1.78 (9 inches below the high for the season) on the staff gauge, to November 12th, the lake level rose to a staff gauge reading of 2.22 (3.72 inches below the recorded high lake level for the season). Both creeks are flowing and the lake is overflowing at the eastern most spillway. The summer season drop of, such as it was, is over & the lake is in recovery. Unless we have a most unusual fall, we should have ice-over very close to the court ordered normal lake level. Meaning we could have a very high water spring next year. We'll see. CURRENT WATER LEVEL READINGS Annual Rise/Fall in Water Level November 16th - 608.66, 3.72 inches below the high water level for 2009 Comparison to the Court Ordered Normal Lake Level for Cedar Lake - 608.5 feet November 16th - 1.92 inches above the court ordered water level So, most years, and while in many respects this year was nothing like most years, still with regard to the norm for fall lake water level behavior, we have every reason to believe that this year will be typical; we probably have hit the low water level & will begin the slow raise back up to a winter overflow condition. On November 3rd we recorded what may be the lowest water level for this amazing 2009 season, of only 9 inches below the high water mark of 608.97 feet recorded on April 26th. By November 15th the lake level rose over 5 inches from that low. So, we're pretty confident that the summer "drop" is over. Rainfall - Is an important ingredient in our water level situation. As the swamp dries up throughout the "summer" season, rainfall becomes critical. The Kieser hydrology studies tell us that we require a minimum of 2 inches of rainfall a month throughout the season (June thru September), or we will have major water level problems. Our rain gauge has a data logger that captures daily rainfall statistics automatically and stores the data internally. It does not have a visible display. Once a month the data logger in the gauge will be removed and the information will be dumped to our computer for posting to our database and here. April 21-30 - 2.37 inches May - 2.53 inches June - 5.82 inches July - 3.58 inches August - 4.31 inches September - 2.26 inches October - 4.95 inches November 1 - 16 - .13 of an inch Water Temperature - Will be monitored weekly starting in May, at both the northern and southern ends of the lake. Temperature at those two locations is usually within a degree or two of each other, but not always, so, the temperature at a depth of five feet will be reported for each location. North of the Causeway - September 19th - 62.4 degrees South of the Causeway - September 19th - 63.5 degrees The section of the page below will track seasonal information of historical significance to record lake conditions for the year. Spring - We are off to a normal start as far as the lake is concerned. Water levels are high, creeks are flowing and the lake is cascading excess water over the spillways. On June 1st we have experienced a number of days of rain & yet the lake level continues to drop, 6/10th of an inch in 3 days. The spillways are on the edge of stopping overflow. The western one has already stopped overflowing once, but started a light trickle again after the rain started. Jones Creek is very slowly flowing. It also stopped one, to re-start after the rain. Sherman has a light flow. The total rainfall for May is deceiving. It was 1.21 inches until the last few days of May when we got well over an inch of rain. That rain did not raise the lake's water level. We are still only slightly above the spillways. When it drops below it will be interesting to see if the flow from the creeks can stabilize the lake level for a time. The question is: If the creeks are flowing is that enough with normal rain to prevent water loss? Also, can we notice a greater lowering once the creeks stop? This is important. If we can hold water in the swamp longer in the season & release it only after we drop below the spillways, is that going to make a difference? Are the creeks capable of delivering enough water (if its there in the swamp) to stabilize the lake level? June 19th, we've had very heavy rainfall in the month of June, more than twice the magic 2 inches already. Consequently, the lake level on the 19th is pretty much the same as it was on the 12th. This is pretty amazing because we are 2 3/4ths inches above the spillways. To stay at that level working against the overflow at the spillways, the groundwater drain off around 70% of the lake and the drain off to the Lakewood Shores Drain is kind of a testament to what might be accomplished with augmentation. The lake level is, 2 3/4ths inches higher than it was this time in 2008, and is one inch higher than it was this time in 2007. July 8th, after the wettest spring/early summer in years, things are showing signs of drying up some. The western-most spillway is above the lake level & Jones Creek has stopped flowing. At 2.22 on the staff gauge, our lake level is, 6.6 inches higher than the lake was on this date in 2007, and 3 inches higher than in 2008 on this date. July 25th, the 1st over 1/2 of July there was no rain at all. During that time, Jones Creek stopped flowing & the lake approached the court ordered lake level. Right after mid-month it started raining. Today the lake level was measured for the 1st time in almost 2 weeks (prior) to the rain starting, and the rain of the last over one week has served to hold the lake's drop to .02 of an inch. So, comparing this year to the previous two; at 2.10 we are 7.2 inches higher than we were in 2007, and 2.76 inches higher than we were this time last year. Clearly, rain is the difference. July 30th, the heavy rain from a few days ago has filtered thru the ground water and raised the lake. Today we are an amazing 9.2 inches higher than we were on this date in 2007, and are 4.8 inches higher than we were last year. Sherman Creek, unbelievably continues to flow. This year folks are much more persistent and effective at piling debris up on the spillways, restricting the overflow out of the lake. This skews our data & is an unknown in comparing data from previous years. we really need to replace them with real dams. September 16th, we went into the month of September at or near the court ordered lake level. This is as a result of the wettest and coolest summer in years. Today the lake level, while dropping with no rainfall in September, we are at a lake level we were at on June 30th in 2007 and where we were on July 26th of last year. The creeks have not been checked in weeks for flow. Since we've been monitoring in 2004 this year was by far the best year for water levels. For all intents & purposes the recreational season is over. If during dry years we can artificially hydrate the lake as it has been this year, we're golden. Sometime after Labor Day we dropped to below the level of the spillways. This is a record year! We've been over the spillways the entire recreational season! |
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