REGION Reservoir levels are high, but not dangerously so

Water is spilling over the Meander Reservoir dam.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Weeks of heavy rainfall have caused water levels at area reservoirs to become higher than normal, but most aren't in danger of overflowing.
"Our levels are still somewhat high, but they are improving compared to a while back," said Werner Loehlein, chief of the water management section of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh. "Unquestionably, there's been a significant amount of rainfall, well above average, but it could have been worse. Our reservoirs are designed for an extremely rare rain event."
The Mahoning Valley's official rainfall for July was 10.39 inches, the second most rain to fall in a month in the area in recorded weather history.
The local reservoirs that the Corps oversees -- Berlin, Milton, Mosquito, Shenango, and Michael J. Kirwan at West Branch State Park -- are designed to handle about 10 to 12 inches of rain in three days before flooding becomes a concern, Loehlein said.
Below full pool levels
For example, Shenango's water level Tuesday was more than 10 feet above normal for this time of the year. But it has to get an additional 13.4 feet before it reaches its full pool level.
Kirwan is 5 feet higher than normal for this time of the year, but it would need an additional 5 feet to hit its full pool level. The reservoir's record level was reached July 24, but even that was about a foot below its full pool level.
The Corps has been opening dams to drain the local reservoirs, but the agency has to be careful with how quickly and how much water they drain because it can cause flooding downstream, Loehlein said.
The agency wants to drain about a half-foot of water daily from Berlin Reservoir to get it to its average level for this time of the year; it's about 4.5 feet above normal, Loehlein said.
The problem is when heavy rains fall, it becomes a challenge to drain Berlin because it flows into Milton and then into the Mahoning River, which experienced record highs at several locations during the recent storms.
"We're releasing water through the dam, but the rain slows it down," Loehlein said. "We're trying to bring the level down in a safe manner. With the rain, we've been stuck in a pattern for a few weeks."
Water supply
The Meander Reservoir has water flowing over its spillway, but that is hardly a problem, said David Tabak, chief engineer for the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District, which operates the reservoir.
Unlike the reservoirs that the Corps oversees, Meander is a water supply reservoir. It provides water to about 300,000 customers in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
"We're in the water industry so we don't want to drain the reservoir," Tabak said.
The reservoir is about a half-foot above the full pool level, and about 3 feet higher than the average for this time of year, Tabak said.
"It's been an exceptionally wet year," he said. "But for us, it's not a problem. Our purpose is to be a water supply. In the 27-plus years I've been here, we've had water spilling over the dam, but this is one of the wettest years I can remember. We've had water spill over on and off since the middle of May."
Water levels at Mill Creek Park are somewhat back to normal after it experienced flooding at the creek and the park's lakes, said Carol Potter, the park's spokeswoman.
"It's nothing remarkable right now," she said. "After the recent storms, the levels got high, but not to record levels. The levels are now slightly above average."
skolnick@vindy.com