SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — If you've visited Lake Cumberland recently, it may seem like the lake levels are extremely low, and they are in some areas of the lake. Levels are low at Pulaski County Park. The levels are right where the Army Corps of Engineers expected them to be.
The Army Corps of Engineers' operations project manager, Michael Lapina, says, "The Corps of Engineers has one big mission among others and that's flood risk management. And of course, most of the time you hear about April showers and spring rains and so forth, so the lakes are usually drawn down in the winter time."
Every year, the Wolf Creek Dam is lowered during the winter in anticipation of spring rains. This has been a drier year for the Commonwealth, but they have estimations for where the lake will be by the time it is set to be refilled in the spring.
Lapina says, "For the last three years, it's been right in this ballpark before it's turned around. Typically, the lake it can be drawn down until about January and then that's when it starts to come back up."
He says there's no cause for alarm right now. Pulaski County Park can see as many as 50 anglers a week, but the park's director, Amber Rutherford, says that the docks are dry and too low.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife's program director Mike Hardin says in a statement that while they prefer normal rainfall, it's not cause for concern yet. He says in part quote "The most recent water quality data for Lake Cumberland shows good levels of oxygen down to 90 feet and water temperatures around 55 degrees. These conditions are favorable for fish and even favorable for anglers having success with smallmouth bass, walleye, and striped bass."
Rutherford is still hopeful for spring, "Normally, there are a few sites that we have to wait just to make sure the water level isn't gonna get over and mess with the electric, but I’m hoping by then we'll see some water."
