Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir Reduce Peak Hudson River Flow by 47%
Stillwater Reservoir Reduce Peak Black River Flow by 11%
The Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir provided 2.48 billion cubic feet of water storage on Tuesday, April 16, reducing the level of flooding in the Hudson River from the Town of Hadley to Fort Edward. The State’s two Hudson River regulating reservoirs stored more than 21.8 billion gallons of runoff on Tuesday, reducing the Hudson River flow by approximately 32,100 cubic feet per second (cfs).
Rainfall and runoff from melting snow on Monday caused the Hudson River to peak at a flow rate of 35,500 cfs at Hadley on April 16, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Without the combined storage capacity of the State’s Hudson River regulating reservoirs, Hudson River flow at Corinth would have peaked at more than 67,000 cfs, and would have produced a flood elevation at least 6 feet higher at Fort Edward on April 16. Operation of the Great Sacandaga Lake significantly reduced potential flood damage to buildings, roads and bridges in Hadley, Corinth, South Glens Falls, Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Fort Edward.
Reservoirs in the Regulating District’s Black River area also experienced increased inflow on Tuesday, and stored approximately 0.43 billion cubic feet, or 3.2 billion gallons of runoff. Stillwater Reservoir reduced the Black River flow by approximately 5,000 cfs and reduced the river elevation in Watertown by approximately 1 foot.