GRDA Floodwater release bulletin - 3:00 p.m. Thursday, May 8:

Floodgates open at Pensacola Dam, Thursday, May 8, 2008

• Grand Lake elevation was 747.17 feet.
• Grand Lake flood control pool was at 19.4 percent capacity.
• At the direction of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, eleven (11) floodgates (3 main gates, 8 on east spillways) were open at Pensacola Dam, discharging 48,890 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water.
• Six (6) units were online at the Pensacola Dam powerhouse, releasing 13,823 cfs of water through generation.
• Releases through floodgates and generation totaled 62,713 cfs.
• Inflows into Grand Lake totaled 82,528 cfs.
• Lake Hudson elevation was 624.41 feet.
• Lake Hudson's flood control pool was at 25.34 percent capacity.
• At the direction of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, two (2) floodgates were open at Robert S. Kerr Dam, discharging 34,078 cfs of water.
• Three (3) units were online at Robert S. Kerr Dam powerhouse releasing 21,330 cfs of water through generation.
• Releases through floodgates and generation totaled 55,408 cfs.
• Inflows into Lake Hudson totaled 75,988 cfs.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers was predicting a crest of 748.30 feet early on Sunday, May 11 for Grand Lake, and a crest of 625 feet on Saturday afternoon, May 10, for Lake Hudson. Further gate change operations are anticipated over the weekend.

The Grand River watershed consists of approximately 12,000 square miles of runoff in parts of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Of that total, over half—7,000 square miles—is uncontrolled runoff, meaning there is no reservoir to control it above the Pensacola Dam. However, the remaining 5,000 square miles of runoff passes through the John Redmond Dam, located near Burlington, Kansas, prior to reaching the Grand River system in Oklahoma.

Grand River Dam Authority News Release
Contact: Justin Alberty
Corporate Communications Director
Grand River Dam Authority
(918) 256-5545
jalberty@grda.com
www.grda.com
For immediate release: 5/8/08