Bare bottoms
Lakes low, but water supply adequate
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| Joe Wilson | Kentucky New Era
A fishing boat rests on dry ground where the water once kept it afloat at Lake Boxley recently. Last week, Lake Boxley was reported to be only 10-percent full. |
Story by Joe Parrino, NEW ERA STAFF WRITER
Two golden retrievers wriggled excitedly in the back seat as Darryl Hageman’s van pulled up to Lake Morris last week.
“They love to swim,” Hageman said.
But the dog days of summer dried up this doggy dip. Hageman found the watershed lake reduced to the size of a pond. Most of the lake bed was exposed and covered with grass.
The Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority is no longer able to pump from Lake Morris or from two other watershed lakes that provide the area’s main water supply. As of last week, Lake Boxley was only 10 percent full and Lake Tandy 35 percent full.
Shrinking lakes do not surprise HWEA General Manager Len Hale, given the ongoing heat wave and a rain deficit of around 10 inches this year.
Nor does it give Hale much cause for alarm.
“I’m less concerned than in past years,” Hale said Monday. “We still have about 130 day- supply of water.”
Since late July, Hopkinsville faucets and spigots have drawn water from two large quarries where the Hopkinsville Stone Co. once mined. Combined, the quarries hold 166 days worth of water.
Even under a worst case scenario, water supplies could last into December. That tides the city over enough to get to the completion of the Lake Barkley water line. The Lake Barkley intake is scheduled to go on line Nov. 12, Hale said.
HWEA may put out a public advisory this week to water lawns only before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m. But Hale doesn’t expect any more serious measures than that.
The utility’s ordinance calls for voluntary conservation when water supplies drop to 75 days.
More serious actions such as mandatory conservation and rationing go into effect at 50 days and 30 days respectively.
During the drought of 1999, all four lakes including Lake Blythe, bared their bottoms. But with the quarries as backups, supply never dropped below 55 days.
Lake Blythe has since moved from second to third string reserve because its water tastes and smells worse than quarry water. The fourth lake is also used for flood control and protecting fish stocks.
The major impact of the low water is to recreation, Hale said.
Instead of tossing the tennis ball into the lake for his dogs to fetch, Hageman turned the van around and drove home. The retrievers moped, Hageman said.
Over at Lake Boxley, the Pyle family moped too. David can no longer fish this season and his wife Mary lost her lake view.
“I’ve never seen it like this,” said Mary Pyle who has lived near Lake Boxley since 1978.
JOE PARRINO can be reached at 887-3239 or jparrino@kentuckynew.com.
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