Quote Originally Posted by BlueRanger View Post
Ranger618, no, this is very abnormal and is not good news. At the end of March they would normally be intentionally drawing down to -5 to as much as -8 feet to make room for spring snowmelt runoff. The fact that they're already moving in the opposite direction is an extremely pessimistic sign. If you look at today's MODIS image you can see why - there is very little snow cover remaining in the area - in fact we're right on the edge of the snow line, although the drainage area is primarily north and east of the TFF. But looking at the 10-day forecast, the remaining snow will probably be gone by the end of next week. We'd better start practicing our rain dances...

http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/mod...r.143.250m.jpg

By the way, nobody answered Zeke's question last fall, but again, no, they don't draw down in fall - they reduce discharge and try to get it as full as possible going into winter. The whole purpose of the TFF is to provide a reserve of water that can be released for downstream hydro operations during the parts of the year when the natural river flow is normally lowest - winter and late summer.
Per Wikipedia (I know it's a lame source) "The dam also provided flood protection and created a unique recreational resource."