Heavy Rains Prompt GRDA To Open Grand Lake Floodgates

A whole lot of water is pouring out Pensacola Dam in northeastern Oklahoma.

The Grand River Dam Authority says because of the large amount of water entering Grand Lake from the Spring and Grand rivers, the Grand River Dam Authority has opened up nine floodgates at Pensacola Dam at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

As of Wednesday morning, the rate of water flowing out of Grand Lake is more than 36,000 cubic feet per second.  That's compared to more than 90,000 cfs flowing into Grand Lake.

GRDA says that as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Grand Lake elevation was 745.43 feet.  Daily target elevation for May 2 is 742.07 feet.

GRDA says Lake Hudson elevation was 622.58 feet.  Normal elevation is 619 feet.

Two floodgates are open at Robert S. Kerr Dam, discharging 30,642 cubic feet per second of water.  Three units were online at Robert S. Kerr Dam powerhouse releasing 19,710 cfs of water through generation.  Total water release is 50,352 cfs, while inflow into Lake Hudson totaled 43,806 cfs.