AEP - Hydro Plant Levels/Flows

Corporate Citizenship / Environmental Activities / Outdoor Recreation / Hydro Plant Levels/Flows

Hydro Plant Locations

Smith Mountain Dam

This information is updated every hour for river users near AEP's hydroelectric facilities. See plant locations.

Smith Mountain Dam: Annual maximum and minimum reservoir elevations.
Also see the Smith Mountain relicensing and shoreline mgmt. plan website.

Explanation of terms:

The 'Forebay' and 'Tailwater' numbers show the elevation, in feet above sea level, of the water levels just upstream and downstream of the plants. 'Tailwater Flow' is the hourly average of the river flow just downstream of the plants, measured in cubic feet per second. One other measurement, 'Adjusted Elevation', applies only to Smith Mountain Lake. It indicates the level the lake would be if the water currently held in the lower Leesville Lake for reuse were pumped back into Smith Mountain Lake.

Last Updated 13-OCT-2008 16:05 EST.

Project	Normal Full Pond	Forebay Actual (Feet)	Tail Water (Feet)	Tail Water Flow (CFS)	Adjusted Elevation
Project	Normal Full Pond	Forebay Actual (Feet)	Tail Water (Feet)	Tail Water Flow (CFS)	Adjusted Elevation
Roanoke River
Niagara	885.00	884.70
Smith Mountain	795.00	790.47	608.11		791.75
Leesville	613.00	607.93	531.79
New River
Buck	2003.40	2002.84	1959.84	590
Byllesby	2079.20	2078.54	2022.07	334
Claytor	1846.00	1845.83	1729.50	879
Kanawha River
London	614.00	613.91	590.39	1653
Marmet	590.00	589.94	565.85	1284
Winfield	566.00	566.08	538.67	1289
James River
Reusens	550.70	550.08	514.77	412
Ohio River
Racine	560.00	560.75	538.24	8888
Saint Joseph River
Constantine	782.90	782.83	771.51
Mottville	summer: 770.40 winter: 770.00	770.39	759.56	1567
Elkhart	summer: 741.50 winter: 739.50	741.53	722.41
Twin Branch	717.10	717.08	695.49	2641
Buchanan	summer: 637.50 winter: 637.00	637.49	624.29	2713
Berrien Springs	623.50	623.50	591.44	3173

FOR CURRENT RESERVOIR LEVELS, CALL 540-985-2767 OR CONSULT THE WEBSITE AT AEP.COM.

ALL FLOW MODIFICATIONS ARE CONTINGENT UPON RESTRICTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS THAT MAY BE CAUSED BY EXTREME WEATHER OR OTHER DEMANDS. CHANGES MAY BE MADE WITHOUT NOTICE

DUE TO BELOW NORMAL INFLOWS AND DROPPING LAKE LEVELS AT SMITH MT PROJECT DEQ HAS AUTHORIZED THE FOLLOWING: DUE TO CONTINUED LOWER INFLOWS, APPALACHAIN HAS MODIFIED ITS RELEASES TO PROVIDE A DISCHARGE OF APPROXIMATELY 480 CFS FROM LEESVILLE DAM. THE REVISED FLOW IS A VARIANCE OF THE MINIMUM FLOW OF 650 CFS AS ESTABLISHED BY THE FERC LICENSE. INCREASED WEEKEND FLOW OF 650 CFS WILL OCCUR ONLY BETWEEN 8:00 A.M. AND 8:00 P.M. ON SATURDAYS FOR THE LONG ISLAND, VIRGINIA AREA. RELEASES MAY BE REVISITED IF THE AREA EXPERIENCES A SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL EVENT OR IF OTHER CONDITIONS AFFECT LEVELS OR GENERATION OPERATIONS.

CLAYTOR PLANT WILL BEGIN PEAKING OPERATION THURSDAY OCTOBER 16, 2008. PLANT PEAKING WILL BE A PART OF NORMAL OPERATION UNTIL APRIL 15, 2009 WHEN LEVELIZED FLOW OPERATION WILL BEGIN FOR RECREATIONAL FLOW ENHANCEMENTS,

THE CLAYTOR LAKE DRAWDOWN WILL START MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008. THE LAKE WILL BE LOWERED NO MORE THAN ONE FOOT PER DAY UNTIL THE ELEVATION IS DOWN FIVE (5) FEET BY SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 8, 2008. THE LAKE WILL BE DOWN FIVE FEET UNTIL SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 22, WHEN, AT THAT TIME, THE LAKE WILL BE ALLOWED TO REFILL.

PLEASE NOTE:IN THE EVENT OF PRECIPITATION OR SYSTEM EMERGENCY, THE RELEASES FROM ANY HYDRO FACILITY COULD CHANGE WITHOUT NOTIFICATION.

AS OF 06:00 THIS MORNING (10/13/2008), INFLOW TO THE SMITH MOUNTAIN PROJECT WAS 308 CFS AND DISCHARGE FROM LEESVILLE 444 CFS. THE ADJUSTED RESERVOIR ELEVATION WAS 791.57 FT. THE FLOW AT THE USGS GAUGE AT BROOKNEAL WAS 518 CFS (6.04 FT.) AND AT ALTAVISTA 600 CFS (2.93 FT.)