Tag Archives: Lake Meredith

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Lake Meredith returning to glory?

What’s with some of this open speculation about the possibility of pumping water out of Lake Meredith, just north of Amarillo?

Don’t even think about it.

http://www.myhighplains.com/story/d/story/-/6Nfc49XbsEGTy7nFlICU3A

The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, which used to pump water from the once-full lake, says it’s risen several feet because of recent rain that’s drenched the Texas Panhandle. Why, it’s up to 36 feet, about 10 feet higher than when it hit its lowest point.

Yeah, that’s a big deal. It’s not such a big deal, though, to signal a return to pumping water from the lake to cities up and down West Texas.

The drought that remains — yes, we’re still in a drought around here — has reduced the quality of the water. Pumping it would require expensive treatment to make the water fully potable.

Besides, let’s remember also that Lake Meredith — even in its replenished state — is still far below its historic high and is unlikely to return to that level any time soon, if ever.

The recent rain has been welcome and well could signal a dramatic turn for the better in our weather pattern. Then again, it might not mean anything at all.

Do we pump water once again from Lake Meredith? Perish the thought.

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Fourth night, more rain

For as much I used to bitch about the weather while growing up in rainy, damp, dank, dark, Portland, Ore., I’m really loving this rainy, damp, dank, dark weather here on the High Plains of the Texas Panhandle.

You see, this is not normal here.

Normal weather bores me to tears. I got bored and disgusted with all that rain back in my hometown. In my current hometown, Amarillo, I’ve grown bored and disgusted with the incessant, relentless sunshine.

Oh, have I mentioned the wind that blows constantly around here?

It’ll take some time for me to grow bored with this moisture. Heaven knows we’ve all prayed our brains out for it to arrive.

I’ve heard some good news about Lake Meredith, about how the Canadian River is actually flowing and that it’s dumping water into the lake. I see the playas — particularly McDonald Lake up the street from our home — filling with water almost to overflowing.

How can I complain about that? Given the drought we’ve had for seemingly forever, you won’t hear a discouraging word from me.

It’ll take some time for me to become bored with this rain.

Keep it coming.

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Flames bring out kindness

A gentleman and I crossed paths this week.

He’s 82 years old. He lives in Fritch. At least he lived in Fritch until a few days ago, when fire destroyed his home near (what’s left of) Lake Meredith.

I didn’t get his name. We talked for some time at the car dealership where I work part time. He and his wife have moved for the time being to their daughter’s home in Amarillo.

He doesn’t yet know what he’s going to do, whether to rebuild at the site of his now-burned-out home or move somewhere else permanently. He said the fire took everything, except his motor vehicles.

This gentleman appears to be a man of great faith. As we spoke, he kept talking about how Scripture has helped guide him through the heartache, how God doesn’t give his children more than they can handle. This fine gentleman is quite sure he’ll get through his crisis.

He talked some more about the incredible strength that the victims of the wildfire have exhibited.

This fellow also talked about the equally incredible random acts of kindness others are showing daily to help these victims.

My acquaintance held up pretty well as we spoke. He didn’t get emotional until he told me of someone who handed him $100 as he was sharing with friends and others about the difficulties that so many folks are enduring.

“I don’t know if I can get through this,” he said as he told the story of the unexpected gift.

He did, more or less, get through it. He finished telling his story and he concluded it by telling me something I already knew: Most folks are inherently kind and compassionate when they witness their neighbors endure such struggle.

Such kindness is the single most important positive result of this recent round of tragedy.

My heart breaks for this man’s suffering. It’s also filled with joy at the kindness he has received.

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Texas drought taking its toll

Wichita Falls residents have been given the order: no more outside watering.

The prolonged drought throughout much of Texas has forced the city to enact some very strict rules on residents. Seems the lakes that supply the city with water are continuing to shrivel. Water quality is being degraded. Residents are facing stiff penalties if they violate the restrictions.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/11/12/facing-drought-wichita-falls-bans-outdoor-watering/

Is this a harbinger of what other communities may face down the road?

Amarillo is in better shape than many communities. It has purchased a lot of water rights throughout the Panhandle. Of course, Amarillo’s boon could mean a bust for smaller communities that rely on the same aquifer ground water as the Panhandle’s largest city.

Lake Meredith, which used to supply the city with some of its water, no longer is of any use. It’s level has receded below the intake pumps. Marinas have been closed. Boating is limited. The lake’s volume is less than 1 percent of capacity — which means it’s virtually dry.

All that bad news can be countered, though, with some good news. Wichita Falls is going to enact a wastewater treatment program that will recycle wastewater back into the system. The plan calls for a dramatic reduction in the amount of water drawn from lakes Kickapoo and Arrowhead.

Good deal, yes? Of course it is.

Here’s the thing, though. If Amarillo ever were to enact such a plan in which residents are drinking water that once contained, um, certain organic matter, I hope the city does so without ever telling anyone.

Some things I don’t need to know.

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Flooding produces some benefit

I truly do not wish bad things to happen to my fellow Americans in nearby states.

However, I noticed something the other morning on a local TV news broadcast that suggests that the Texas Panhandle has received some benefit from the misery inflicted on our neighbors northwest of us in Colorado.

The deluge that destroyed so much property and took those lives north of Boulder a few weeks ago has produced a dramatic rise in the levels of Lake Meredith, about 50 miles north of Amarillo. KAMR-TV, the local NBC affiliate, runs a weather crawl when it broadcasts local news in the morning. Until the flooding inundated Colorado, the Lake Meredith water level as shown on the crawl had bottomed out at something just below 27 feet.

Monday morning, the lake level registered on the crawl put the water at 33-plus feet. That’s a nearly 7-foot increase in the water at Lake Meredith.

OK, it’s not much of an increase, given the lake’s historic high of 100-plus feet in the early 1970s.

It’s a start — perhaps — to a change in fortune at the manmade reservoir.

The water has rushed down the Front Range of the Rockies, onto the High Plains, into the Canadian River, which feeds Lake Meredith. Perhaps even better news would be that whatever water hasn’t flowed into the lake has seeped into the Ogallala Aquifer, which also has been depleted over many years.

I just wish now that the Almighty would grant us some more moisture — without inflicting such pain upstream.

I think I’ll pray some more.

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Video of shrinking lake is mind-blowing

Lake Meredith used to be a substantial body of water.

It now needs to be renamed to, say, Puddle Meredith.

http://amarillo.com/news/texas-news/2013-07-24/drought-keeping-lake-levels-down-time-lapse-video-lake-meredith-decline

The time-lapse video of the lake shows what the punishing drought has done to this once-magnificent body of water about an hour’s drive north of Amarillo.

The feds opened Sanford Dam in 1965 along the Canadian River. It filled up with river water, reaching a maximum depth of 103 feet in the early 1970s. It’s been downhill, so to speak, ever since.

The water levels got so low in 2011 that the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority stopped pumping water from the lake and shipping it to cities served by CRMWA. Marinas have closed. The lake level now stands — last I saw it — at around 27 feet.

The Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, which was created as a place for people to take their boats for a little water-related recreation now is a place for folks to camp, hike and do other things on dry land. I reckon some folks can still take their boats onto the water, what’s left of it.

I’m still waiting for an answer to this question: Did anyone foresee this immense water depletion occurring when they built the dam in the first place?

And was it all a wasted effort?

Amazing. Simply amazing.