APCo requests permission to slow release of water from SML

By Bryan Gentry
Media General News Service
Published: August 26, 2008

Appalachian Power Company has requested a federal agency’s permission to extend the time it can slow down the release of water from Smith Mountain Lake.

The water level has dropped about two feet since July 23, according to figures provided by the company.

To keep the lake from dropping too low, Appalachian Power turned down the release of water from Leesville Dam on July 30 and again on Aug. 14.

The company can keep the release of water below the normal requirement for 45 days. When that period expires on Sept. 11, the company needs a nod from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to keep releasing water at a slower rate.

Last week, APCo sent a letter to the commission to ask for that approval.

The company wanted “to get ahead of the game, and not wait until the variance is actually up,” said John Shepelwich, Appalachian Power spokesman.

“Certainly this will give them a couple of weeks (to decide), and we certainly hope that they will grant the variance.”

The letter, dated Aug. 21, asks FERC to allow APCo to continue cutting the release of water until the lake reaches its “full pond” level of 795 feet.

Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality is concerned about the dropping water level at Smith Mountain Lake, as well as at other lakes in the state, due to the lack of rain.

“The water levels in all of our major reservoirs have dropped pretty markedly over the last month,” said Scott Kudlas, director of DEQ’s Office of Surface and Groundwater Supply.

Lake Moomaw near Covington is at 51 percent full, Kudlas said.

Philpott Lake, near Ferrum, lost eight feet in the past month, and the John H. Kerr Reservoir along the North Carolina border dropped five feet at the same time, he said.

Kudlas said the falling water levels can pose problems to recreation as well as electrical generation, although Shepelwich said Smith Mountain Lake has not dropped enough to affect the power generation.

Smith Mountain Lake’s depth is measured as its “adjusted elevation,” which includes the water in Leesville Lake.

Leesville Lake is included because it is pumped back to Smith Mountain Lake for electrical generation.

Appalachian Power is normally required to release 650 cubic feet per second to feed the Staunton River from Leesville Dam. This month the outflow has been cut to 480 cubic feet per second.

According to Shepelwich, the lake was at 791.6 feet Monday morning. Water was coming in at the Roanoke River at only 97 cubic feet per second.