TVA help

Okay I'm trying to understand lake levels, ie inflow outflow, elevation, etc. Any help would be appreciated, please correct me if I'm wrong.

TVA says guntersville us spilling until further notice. So this means one or two gates are open all the time?

If the average inflow is 20k and out flow is 40k the the dam is letting out more water than it's taking in, correct?

Does this mean the reservoir will be lower?

And vice versa, if the inflow is more than the outflow, will the reservoir rise?

What's the difference between reservoir elevation and tailwater elevation?

Thanks

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yes water will be lower and diff in elevation is the height of the dams lake level vs the river below the dam which is around 40 ft lower normally.....

man, i have tried figuring this stuff out for years and it isn't an exact science. Long story short, if i pull up to the boat ramp at Indian Creek and it's muddy i just turn around and go home.

But conceptually, I would think if Guntersville dam is spilling at a higher rate than Wheeler, then the water level would be moving up and the clear river water would be getting pushed up into the creeks. Conversely, if Guntersville is spilling at a lower rate than Wheeler, then the water level would drop pulling the creek water off the mudflats and make the creek water murky......but again, it doesn't always follow this rationale all the time.

Usually if we get a hard rain, the rive and its creeks are clear that day and the following day.....2 - 4 days later the water is usually muddy with a strong current.

Anyways, i'm not sure if this helps you or not, but just my $0.02

I think it would be easier to figure out a female than it would the Water levels. Or their reason as to why they do what they do. I can understand the rainy time why they drop the level. But what good is dropping so low their is no water in most of the winter time??????

I don't know what their purpose is for continuing to drop the lake. I wish I knew somebody who could tell me. I hit a big rock yesterday afternoon that I didn't even know was there until then. Luckily I was just idling along.

The lake is lower than I ever remember it being. Not saying it's the lowest it's been, I just don't remember it being this low.

My boat took on water over the transom before I could get far enough down the ramp to float it off the trailer. A lot of water. Probably 50 gallons or more. I stood on the ramp while my buddy backed it in.

Gville has been low the last couple of weeks ….I haven't seen wheeler but it should be 2-3 ft below summer pool of 556. I do best on wheeler when the water is 551-553. that gets the fish concentrated in and around the deeper holes and ditches.....Gville never drops more than a couple of feet and it doesn't affect my spots much...

TVA starts the fall lowering for 2 reasons at least I was told this by one of the workers at gville dam. One is for weed control as the lower it is when the real cold stuff comes in it kills the milfoil back .The other is in anticipation of winter cold fronts bringing in lots more rain both at Guntersville and up stream this time of year into the early Spring.Its called flood control you flood the land with a dam and try not to let it flood anymore HAHA .The lake is low now but it stayed the highest I can ever remember all summer. I had to use my waders almost every time I fished a bridge. But I think its at least 2 ft down now. Also the amount of water released by Guntersville is controlled by a computer system located in Nickajack in Chattanooga. When they say they are spilling at Guntersville it just means they have anywhere from 1 gate to 15 open. the amount spilling usually tells how many gates.If you see over 100000cft or more then there will be 10 or more gates open usually unless they got them raised real high. anything under 100000 is usually 2 to 8 . also factored in is the total discharge when they generate the turbines. If there are no gates open and the discharge is at 48000 cfs then they are running all 4 wide open that's all they can send with no gates open. 30000 usually means idled down some and under 20000 they have some shut off or just idled I don't fish if its under 25000 down the as the water is dropping real fast.

Thanks everyone

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