Lake levels down in areas of Kansas
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) -- One of the busiest lake days of the summer is right around the corner.
At Wilson Lake, recent rain hasn't been enough to bring up the lake levels.
"Essentially, all that's done is just green the grass," Nolan Fisher, Wilson Lake Army Corps. of Engineers park manager, said.
It has been a maintenance rain that has greened up grass and trees, but it hasn't been enough to create the runoff needed.
"It's gonna take quite a bit of rain to fill the upstream ponds until those ponds overflow into the rivers and the tributaries," Fisher said.
Wilson Lake is down 21 inches.
Fisher says they are in a good spot right now, and he doesn't anticipate there being any issues for Memorial Day Weekend.
Fisher says there would need to be a big rain over a short period of time so it didn't have a chance to soak into the ground.
All the boat ramps at Wilson Lake are open.
"Some of our sliding docks, they've been pushed out about as far as they can go," Fisher said. "So I don't perceive us having any challenges going into the weekend."
Fisher says typically, in Russell County, there are 26 inches of rain, and a good portion of that is in May and June.
The next 60 days determine what the lakes will look like for the summer. They are hoping to get a recharge throughout May and June.
"If we don't get significant runoff to raise our lake elevations here in the next 60 days, we're probably going to have some boat ramps that will be hard to access," Fisher said.
Fisher says nearly everything is booked for Memorial Day weekend, so tourism is the same as usual.
Because of the low lake levels, some rocky points may be exposed that weren't last year.
"Those points are going to be a little more shallow, so I would say stay away from those points in the shorelines because those can damage your propeller and leave you stranded," Fisher said.
At Kanopolis Lake, Army Corps of Engineers operations manager Dan Hays says recent rain has brought up the lake 2.8 inches.
Kanopolis Lake is 1.6 feet below normal.
"We are trending behind certainly where we were in recent years on this date and certainly behind where we would like to be," Hays said.
Hays says Kanopolis Lake is a small reservoir with a large drainage basin, so the levels fluctuate more than Wilson Lake, which is three times the size of Kanopolis Lake and has a small drainage basin.
"Wilson is known for being a fairly stable lake that doesn't go up and down a lot," Hays said. "And Kanopolis is kind of known for being a lake that can go up and down depending on precipitation."
One ramp is open out of five at Kanopolis Lake. There would need to be at least four more feet of rain to open a ramp back up.
Hays says the low water levels will also impact access to the marina, so he reminds people to be patient.
He says that he is optimistic about what the next 60 days will bring to the lake.
"Even despite being low today, over 80% of the time, we will refill back to our desired pool level by the end of June," Hays said. "We're hopeful."
Fisher and Hays say one of the most important things is wearing a life jacket to ensure safety in any situation.
According to the US Army Corps of Engineers, Cheney Lake is almost four feet below normal.
Click here to find El Dorado Lake levels.