OTTUMWA —
While rainfall has returned to normal in the last two weeks, water levels are still below normal or near historic lows.
Mike Heffernan, general manager of Ottumwa Water Works and Hydro, said Lake Red Rock’s levels are continuing to drop.
It’s projected that the lake will release 320 cubic feet per second (cfs) through Oct. 15.
“That’s the minimum they like to outflow to keep enough water going to the Cargill Eddyville complex and Alliant Energy generating station, and also to help us out, too,” Heffernan said.
But once output drops below 300 cfs, Cargill and Alliant could start hurting.
“They’re projecting the lake level [Tuesday] to be 742.05 feet, and in 15 days it will drop to 741.9 feet,” Heffernan said. “That’s only 0.15 inches, but it is still dropping. I anticipate they’ll keep those outflows at 320 [cfs] since the lake level is dropping.”
He said the lake is not getting as much water as it’s releasing.
“It can’t do that forever,” Heffernan said. “I imagine if we don’t get rain in the next few months, they will drop the outflow to below 300 [cfs].”
While Cargill Eddyville and Alliant Energy would be impacted, Heffernan said Ottumwa would be fine.
“It would create hardships for the Cargill Eddyville complex, because they pull water out of the [Des Moines] River but they don’t have a dam,” he said. “Once Red Rock’s outflow drops below 300, they have to start pumping well water to replace the water they’re taking out. That makes that water, when it returns to the river, more difficult for us to treat. Well water in this area is very poor quality.”
Heffernan said the same goes for Alliant, which pulls water to keep its towers cool.
“A low river level is hard on their pumping equipment, because once again, they don’t have a dam,” Heffernan said.
But he said Ottumwa has nothing to fear for the moment.
“At a meeting three weeks ago, the state geologist, Bob Libra, was there,” Heffernan said. “He said we’re not at historical lows yet, but we don’t know where we’re at in the drought cycle. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.”
While well water is generally poor quality in southeast Iowa, Heffernan said most rural homes are hooked up to Wapello County Rural Water, which gets its water from Ottumwa Water Works and Hydro.
Meanwhile, the Rathbun Regional Water Association gets its water from Rathbun Lake, which has not experienced the hardships Red Rock has this summer.
“They have plenty of water there,” Heffernan said. “Rathbun Lake discharges a minimal amount — 5 to 10 cfs — so they don’t have to release as much water to feed big places like Cargill and Alliant and Ottumwa.”
Both Saylorville Lake and Lake Red Rock sit on the Des Moines River, so whatever happens there will affect Ottumwa in the long run, he said.
“We’ve been getting some rain, but it’s been soaking right into the ground, with virtually no run-off,” he said.
For more information, go to www.iowadnr.gov/watersummaryupdate.
Wapello County
October 2, 2012
Water supply in limbo: Cargill Eddyville, Alliant Energy could face hardships as lake levels drop
- Wapello County
-
- Roaring winds Southeast Iowa in clean-up mode after storm passes through OTTUMWA — Work crews in and around Wapello County put in a lot of hours. And they were ready to do it again. “We had the storms roll through there last night,” said Ryan Stensland, a spokesman for Alliant Energy. “Down in southeast part of the state,
- Mixed reactions to tax reduction OTTUMWA — During past public forums in Ottumwa, Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, told voters the state should follow its own laws and make taxes equal across the board. This week, legislators in Des Moines took a first step toward that goal, which is a
- Budget shift on county agenda OTTUMWA — There's nothing like having some money in the budget to cover a project that doesn't have enough money on its line item. The Wapello County Supervisors will need to move some money to an item that has spent all of its funding, according to
- Wellness challenge asks people to live healthy OTTUMWA — Are you ready for the Live Healthy Iowa 10-Week Wellness Challenge? Some of the city employees joined Live Healthy Iowa, and Jody Gates, the city's health director, was captain of one of the two teams of about a dozen people. "Our goals for
-
Agency couple has provided foster care for 38 kids in last decade
AGENCY — School pictures of 38 grinning children look out into Angie and Terry Hamm's living room, evidence of the years of work and love they've given to those who needed it most. Their house — currently filled with five children, ages 7, 10, 10, 11
-
Severe weather returns to forecast
OTTUMWA — The National Weather Service believes severe weather could return to Iowa this weekend. The storms are expected to arrive late in the weekend and could extend into the next work week. Meteorologist Kurt Kotenberg said Sunday and Monday have
-
Health clinic in Ottumwa joins Mercy Medical
OTTUMWA — Though their future was uncertain, two local health care practices will continue without any interruption in services to patients and will remain at their current locations in Ottumwa. Ottumwa Internal Medicine North and Ottumwa Family Prac
- 90th Street closed until 2014 OTTUMWA — Not only is 90th Street closed for this summer, it's also closed until the summer of 2014. Wapello County Engineer Brian Moore said Wednesday that the road will be closed for a year while Moore and his team work on the road's design. "There
-
Iowa Supreme Court rejects appeal
DES MOINES – The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected an appeal bid by a Wapello County man previously found to be a sexually violent predator. Cory Blake West was convicted of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse in 2008. He was sentenced to four y
- Board to discuss DHS contract and tourism letter OTTUMWA — Wapello County Supervisor Greg Kenning said a contract with Department of Human Services (DHS) will probably be the main event when the board meets at 5:30 p.m. today in the Wapello County Courthouse. He indicated the DHS contract will pro
- More Wapello County Headlines
