The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Beaver Lake Project Office will open the conduit at Beaver Dam from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning May 14 to evacuate flood storage and support downstream fisheries. Water releases are normally conducted through the hydropower units, but both units are currently unavailable due to maintenance issues.
The district must meet downstream fish-water requirements that began May 1. With both hydropower units unavailable, the Water Control Section is operating under a deviation that allows periodic use of the conduit and/or spillway to meet downstream water quality requirements and support the downstream fishery.
The district is coordinating these operations with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Periodic conduit and/or spillway releases may continue after the flood pool is evacuated while the hydropower units remain inoperable. The releases will continue to support the downstream fisheries.
At this time, water releases from the conduit will not exceed 5,000 cubic feet per second, which is comparable to normal flows when all generating units are operating.
Because of the high flow being released from the conduit the district asks that everyone be safe and stay away from the conduit.
For more information, contact the Beaver Lake Project Office at 479-636-1210.
Recreation information can be found on the Internet at www.swl.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/littlerockusace and on the USACE Little Rock water level mobile app at www.swl.usace.army.mil/Home/water-control-app/.
