Alabama Power hydro teams work to soften blow of major rain events
Smith Lake's high water levels has caused some docks and boat houses to float away. (David Warren Photography)
Every day, Alabama Power’s hydroelectric dams help provide the power Alabamians demand. But when heavy rains come, these structures, and the storage reservoirs behind them, can help to soften the blow.
The El Nino-fueled wave of warm, soggy weather across the Southeast over the Christmas holiday has swollen rivers, pushed up lake levels, washed out roads and forced people from their homes. In Alabama, the town of Elba was especially hard-hit, with sections of the community inundated by the rising waters of the Pea River.
Alabama Power’s hydro teams have been working closely throughout the holiday with the Army Corps of Engineers – who also operate dams across the state – and with other public agencies, to help manage as best as possible the high waters in the Black Warrior, Coosa and Tallapoosa river watersheds.
Alabama Power’s Smith Dam on the Black Warrior; Weiss and Logan Martin dams on the Coosa; and Harris and Martin dams on the Tallapoosa are specifically designed to help manage flows downstream during times of potential flooding. When heavy rains come, the reservoirs behind these dams can store water at levels well above their normal, summer capacity – which is exactly what they’ve been doing during recent days. The company releases the stored water behind the dams in a controlled manner, through its turbines and through dam spillgates, in coordination with the Corps, to help reduce downstream flooding.
Most of the company’s storage reservoirs have flood easements around their shores, where no permanent structures are allowed. This gives the reservoirs room to rise during and after extraordinary rain events. When water is moved in a controlled manner through the dams, it not only helps to reduce downstream flooding, it also creates room in the reservoirs for additional rains.
People living on the company’s storage reservoirs should always be alert to changing conditions on the lakes, including rising and falling lake levels. Details about specific lake elevations, generating schedules at the dams and other information is available at https://apcshorelines.com, on the Alabama Power Shorelines mobile app, or by calling the company’s automated Reservoir Information Line at 1-800-LAKES11 (1-800-525-3711).
With more rain expected this week, Alabama Power’s hydro teams will continue to work closely with their agency partners to help manage water flows and lake levels. That commitment continues during fair weather – during times when Alabama experiences another extreme: drought – and every day.
