Reservoirs near normal levels

Flood control storage at the Jamestown and Pipestem reservoirs is approaching normal levels as floodwaters from this summer have been evacuated, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Wednesday.

The pool level at Jamestown Reservoir reached its fall target level of 1,429.8 feet on Nov. 7. The reservoir continues to be reduced to a target winter level of 1,428 feet. The current release out of Jamestown Dam is 425 cubic feet per second. The releases will continue to be ramped down over the next couple of weeks until they are matching inflows.

Pipestem Reservoir reached normal winter conditions on Nov. 14 as releases began to match inflows. The gates on the outlet works are set to a fill-and-spill operation, where the flow is regulated by an overflow weir in the outlet works. The pool level will continue to drop slightly as inflows drop over the winter. Going into the winter, combined releases are expected to be in the range of 200 to 300 cfs.

Pipestem Reservoir peaked on Aug. 21 at a level of 1,488.7 feet, which is 1.9 feet higher than the previous peak this year of 1,486.8 on May 25. Jamestown Reservoir peaked on Aug. 19 at a level of 1,450.1 feet, which is 1.1 feet less than the previous peak this year of 1,451.2 on May 2. The Aug. 21 peak pool level at Pipestem and the May 2 peak pool level at Jamestown were the second highest experienced at each reservoir behind the 2009 record pool levels.

The 2011 peak daily inflow into Jamestown was 14,300 cfs during the snow melt — this was a record inflow into the reservoir. For Pipestem, the 2011 peak daily inflow was 4,200 cfs. The flow volume at the James River at Jamestown stream gauge for 2011 is expected to be 830,000 acre feet. This is the highest flow volume on record at the gauge exceeding 520,000 acre feet in 2009 and 420,000 acre feet in 1997.

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