Despite recent rain reprieves, and more on the way this weekend and next, west Kentucky does remain in severe-to-extreme drought conditions.
And officials with the Tennessee Valley Authority are well aware, and seemingly prepared.
Knoxville’s TVA River Forecast Center Water Resource Engineer Ben Heath confirmed to the News Edge earlier this week that Kentucky Lake has already been filled to summer pool, about 360 feet, and that Lake Barkley is just as full.
The Tennessee River, specifically, begins in Knoxville, goes toward Chattanooga, cuts across to Alabama, comes back north at the Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee line, comes back through Tennessee and Kentucky, and then finally into the Ohio River.
Heath called it a “big driver” of TVA’s blueprint, which has 49 dams — 29 of them power-producing — providing nearly 10% of the giant’s electricity generating profile.
Add on the fact that coal, nuclear and natural gas all need a clean, sustainable source of water in order to effectively operate, and Heath added river health and rainfall are critical points that must consistently be measured.
Rain gauges, stream gauges, the National Weather Service and the U.S. Drought Monitor all serve as major databases for projecting, but Heath noted models also play a huge role in operating reservoirs.
One in particular, the Sacramento Model of hydrology, is the most important, because it simulates river basin water management, utilizes a framework that represents rainfall-runoff processes, incorporates snowmelt dynamics for accurate flow predictions, employs interconnected reservoirs to clarify storage and release concerns, and it optimizes water resource allocation and flood control strategy.
The best thing about hydroelectricity, Heath said, is that it produces the power “when you need it.”
TVA, he noted, “will prepare for the worst, but hope for the best,” meaning water will be rationed and conserved when needed for environmental flow, water supply and navigational channels.
But recreation must also be addressed and propped in the seven-state region, and Kentucky Lake is but a part of that story.
Scott Brooks, TVA spokesman, also said the organization is dealing with its biggest expansion in decades.
Heath said drought conditions may not lessen anytime soon, and questions still linger about possible La Nina and El Nino weather patterns this summer.
But again, Kentucky and Barkley lakes are ready, whatever may come, and those seeking to keep a watchful eye on their levels can do so at TVA.com, or through TVA’s “Lake Information” app on their phone.
