Summersville Lake conditions amidst ongoing drought

SUMMERSVILLE, WV (WVNS) — Summersville Lake is the largest lake in West Virginia.

It is also the main source of water for several rivers downstream of the Summersville Dam.

With West Virginia in a drought, though, how is our largest lake holding up?

Summersville Lake usually has more than 160-thousand acre feet of water available for low-flow augmentation.

This means that the Army Corps of Engineers and the operators of Summersville Dam have plenty of water to release in order to keep its downstream ecosystems happy.

However, the drought that is sweeping through the Mountain State has put its levels to the test.

Brandy Acord, Resource Manager for Summersville Lake with the Army Corps of Engineers, said on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 they got lucky.

“Well, this summer has been extremely dry. We’ve really been lucky to hang onto the lake level all summer. We have met our requirements of maintaining the downstream river level all summer,” explained Acord.

This does not mean Summersville Lake is in the clear however.

Lake staff has started releasing water downstream nearly two weeks earlier than usual at a rate of three to four inches per day.

Summersville Lake is currently sitting a foot lower than its normal summer level of one thousand six hundred fifty-two feet.

Noah Allen, general manager for Summersville Lake Marina, said they should still have plenty of recreation time left, though.

“In the meantime, too, we have Labor Day weekend coming up. We’ll still be providing full marina services here with gas, ice, gift shop, and our boat rentals and we should have a pretty good holiday weekend here,” said Allen.

Allen said some boat owners who dock on the banks have been asked to pull their boats out due to the dropping water levels.

Some have taken up dock slips further into the lake while others have pulled their boats out completely for the season.

Allen said if any more slips need their boats pulled, owners will be given ample notice to do so.

Acord also said that an important season for the area will not be affected by the drought in any noticeable way.

“Something to note is that whitewater season and our normal draw down happens next Friday anyway. So, nothing has been impacted as far as whitewater releases go,” assured Acord.

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