Jackson Lake Remains Five Feet Low

This year’s Memorial Day holiday, Monday, May 25, will not seem the same on Jackson Lake.

Typically, there is much lake traffic as the holiday that signals the unofficial beginning of summer arrives. This year, however, the lake has not be raised to its typical summer level of 528.5 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL), because of work on the dam that has taken longer than anticipated.

Many residents on the lake receive periodic updates on the lake level, and on April 26, homeowners were advised there would be a two-week delay in filling the lake back up to the normal summer elevation.

At that time, it was anticipated that phase 1 of the Obermeyer gate installation would be complete, and the lake level would be raised to 527.0 feet.

However that did not happen, and lake residents are getting concerned. On Tuesday, a Southern Company spokesperson send an e-mail to residents that the current elevation is 523.9 MSL, and that all gates are installed. “We will continue to make adjustments over the next several days,” according to the e-mail. “Inflows continue to be low, so we do not anticipate the lake level exceeding 525.0’ MSL this weekend.”

Although the gates are installed, work is not complete, according to a spokesman for the company, and a photo of the dam Tuesday showing a crane still there. It should be finished soon, however.

“Rainfall will determine when the lake refills. Lake Jackson fills quickly so a couple of days of good area wide rain will go a long way to filling the lake,” said Mark Williams with the Southern Company. “We are eager to see the lake refilled. We work closely with the contractor to ensure the work is done as quickly as possible while maintaining quality.”