Normal Pool

Good luck finding anything that is not a corp controlled lake or a flood control lake (which is usually a Corp controlled lake). In most cased no real reason to monitor water level unless it is a city lake and they monitor so they can announce usage limitations on their customers to keep from running out of water.

When you start talking city and DNR lakes I would get a phone number for the supervisor of the lake and hope he/she is willing to help you. But unless the lake is flooding or in a huge drought the water level should be very consistent since most of these lake do not have adjustable dams.

Talked to the DNR at Evergreen Saturday after our tournament. Lake is at full pool. Can call any time and they will give pool status. Full Pool is top of the damn, then they count down from there.

The 720 mark on the spillway wall or pumphouse wall is considered full pool. (720 ft above sea level)

Getting the pool status is great and all but as I said most non adjustable lakes will be full pool most of the time. Water flow into the lake and out of the lake would be great information to have for those same lakes. Was this something that was offered by DNR?

Not sure about the lakes and sonar unit you have. However all the lakes around me fluctuate during the year, they are only full pool in the spring. And that isn't always true. We have had drought years where the lake never made it back to full pool. Evergreen is also a reservoir lake, they do maintenance and draw the lake down as needed. Banner Marsh is a group of old strip mine pits. The lakes are separated from the Illinois River by a dyke. IF/when the river floods Banner Marsh may or may not flood. Several years back it flooded out so bad one of the lakes ramp/parking lot was under water and closed all year. People started launching from the road to the parking lot. Information that is good to know before you leave the house.

My sonar reads map cards and can highlight depth. Both depth to target fish location and shallow water to avoid shearing another pin. I need pool level to set my offset to get accurate depth readings. I also need the pool level to create maps on lakes that aren't on map chips, like Evergreen and Banner. I can record part of the lake one day, come back another and record another section, repeat until I have all acres mapped. I need to know pool level so my map aligns.

Was this something that was offered by the DNR? That is what I am trying to figure out. I know its recorded, just a matter of finding out where that information is stored and being able to access it.

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Originally Posted by Jimmy Train

The 720 mark on the spillway wall or pumphouse wall is considered full pool. (720 ft above sea level)

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Excellent info. I prefer to launch from White Oak ramp and that data is visible from the ramp. I'll need my bino's to read it. :biggrin

So far I know this.
Shelbyville is posted on a website by the Core of Engineers. Lake Shelbyville Basin
Evergreen- call the DNR office or read the markings on the pump wall/dam.

Hopefully this week I can get to Banner and find out. I might have time tomorrow to call Rob (IDNR).

the DNR isnt going to monitor water levels on most any lake, Shelbyville is monitored by the COE because it is a flood control lake that is why we get daily updates as well as the river, all of these are done by the COE not DNR. Local city owned lakes may post on their website what the lake level is, but who knows if they update it every day. Good luck in finding it.

The DNR doesn't oversee Evergreen. It is owned by the city of Bloomington and run by McLean Co Parks and Rec Dept.
The Bloomington Water Dept makes the call on when water is to be pumped out of Evergreen or Bloomington. Calling the DNR would be a waste of time. Call the park office/visitor's center.