Update: Lake Conroe Exceeds Full Level; San Jacinto River Authority Beginning Controlled Releases

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- Updated 12/7/18, 9:00pm : With an average of more than 3.2 inches of rainfall across the watershed in the last 24 hours, the Lake Conroe water level has risen above the normal pool elevation of 201’ above mean sea level (msl). SJRA operations personnel at the Lake Conroe dam began controlled releases at around 12:30 PM to slowly pass a portion of the inflows coming into the lake. The release rate was slowly and incrementally increased throughout the afternoon as the rain continued to fall. The current release rate is 2,654 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Depending on the rate and amount of additional rainfall, the lake will continue to slowly rise, and releases will be adjusted accordingly. The operational guidelines for Lake Conroe are designed to ensure that the peak rate of flow released from the dam is LOWER than the peak flow coming into the lake.

SJRA has been coordinating with the National Weather Service (NWS) River Forecast Center, Harris County Flood Control District, and the City of Houston this week as the weather forecasts for this rainfall event have become more definitive. Based on the rainfall that had fallen before 2:30 PM today and the latest NWS forecast, SJRA’s reservoir model indicates that the lake level may rise approximately two feet during this event, and the peak release from Lake Conroe is expected to be between 9,000 – 11,000 cfs.

Throughout this entire storm event, information regarding lake level and releases will be sent, in real-time, to SJRA’s core partners, including Montgomery County, Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, City of Houston, Harris County, Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Harris County Flood Control District, National Weather Service, Coastal Water Authority, etc.

Since it is difficult to accurately predict how far the lake will ultimately rise, Lake Conroe personnel will continue actively monitoring the storm and communicating with local officials.

Anyone interested in monitoring Lake Conroe levels, releases, rainfall totals, or stream flows can visit SJRA’s Contrail System at: https://sanjacinto.onerain.com/home.php

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With an average of 1.7 inches of rainfall across the watershed in the last 24-hours, the Lake Conroe water level has risen above the normal pool elevation of 201’ above mean sea level (msl). Around 12:30pm, SJRA operations personnel at the Lake Conroe dam began controlled releases to slowly pass a portion of the inflows coming into the lake. The current release rate is 1,059 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Throughout this entire storm event, information regarding lake level and releases will be sent, in real-time, to SJRA’s core partners, including Montgomery County, Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, City of Houston, Harris County, Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Harris County Flood Control District, National Weather Service, Coastal Water Authority, etc.

Depending on the rate and amount of additional rainfall, the lake will continue to slowly rise, and releases will be adjusted accordingly. The operational guidelines for Lake Conroe are designed to ensure that the peak rate of flow released from the dam is LOWER than the peak flow coming into the lake.

Since it is difficult to accurately predict how far the lake will ultimately rise, Lake Conroe personnel will continue actively monitoring the storm and communicating with local officials.

Anyone interested in monitoring Lake Conroe levels, releases, rainfall totals, or stream flows can visit SJRA’s Contrail System at: https://sanjacinto.onerain.com/home.php.