You have to remember that this is uncharted terriroty. The water levels have never been this high. So, it's really a guessing/analyzing game and im pretty sure no one on this board is an "expert" at that.

By middle August, which is 4 months from now, I would expect waters to be a little high, 2-3-4 ft above power pool with a lot of dock damage that has not been fix. I would expect the entertainment industry (Branson) to be at 100% operations. By then, I think the lake will be boatable, just stay in areas you have studied on the maps. There are islands in the lake, and with the high water, if you don't know where the hell you're going, you could find one.

But, I think you will probably be OKIE by mid August.

D

2Suns - I expect it will be in reasonably good shape by August. But, like D-Rod said, this level of flooding has never been seen on this group of lakes.

I'll try to keep this thread updated as the conditions change. And, as it gets closer to your planned trip feel free to PM me for a condition report. Once the water goes down so I can get to my place, I will be there every weekend.

The long term forecasts show little chance of rain over the next couple of weeks; 20%-40% chance on a few days. That's common this time of year. So, I'm hopeful they will be able to get the lakes back down to a normal level within a couple of weeks.

D-rod, Opus

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread as the summer wears on.

Again, thanks for the insight.

I, too, will be waiting Opus's reports! I hope TRL can recover much faster than my local lake in KS did last year when we had record flooding. Parts of it still are not open and it's been 10 months.

If you don't see an update when you need one, just ask me.

O.K., K.W. Post your pic's!

Hopefully the brown trout fishing isn't better because of the higher water levels.

Hey 2Suns,

By August the lake should be back down close to normal if the area falls back into a normal rain pattern. If it is a hot summer the Corp. will generate a lot of electricity and pull the lake down.

Personally, I like the lake above the normal pool of 915. It seems the lake is at its best at 917 to 919. So, the selfish side of me hopes that is the norm for the season.

The big question is how much the water will clear up. In 2001 when the lake flooded to 923 the lake clarity was not quite up to snuff...10' visibility versus 20'+.

Faster moving water is less clear than slower water that has had time to settle. Unfortunately, with each flood, the lake ends up more dirty, thus less clear. It is also a part of the aging process as phosphate accelerate algae growth from run off.

It's at 930...I don't expect to be below 920 before August.

D - What's your prognosis for the count of bad stuff in the water (i.e. inadvertantly higher fecal count)?

It's hard for me to predict. I'm not an environmental engineer or scientist. I have just been studying waterways and these types of things for a couple of weeks in chemistry.

The watershed is a relatively unpopulated area without large quantities of farm land. I tend to think this is good news for the integrity of the lakes/river because a good portion of the runoff will not come areas polluted (farmland is considered a pollutant). Since the area is rocky without much traditional dirt, that is helpful too.

It will be interesting to see what happens. We hope a limiting reagent was not introduced in mass quantities. If that happened, then we should expect major changes. When an environmental nut rants about one small substance changing an entire system, he/she is not kidding. It doesn't take much to throw the delicate system out of balance.

Okay folks there are 4 Table Rock pics posted in the Photo Gallery. Just look for my screen name under the recently posted pics.

I was on Table Rock this weekend. The water is much cleaner than it was a couple of weeks ago. It was BROWN, now it is relatively clear, with just a green tint to it. I ran from Campbell Point, to Kimberling City. There was very little debris floating in the water.

It is still very high, at about 929.5 feet. The word from the Corps of Engineers is that they won't have it back down to "normal" level until mid-late July ("normal" is 915 feet).

I'm just hoping it gets down to 926, or lower, soon. Until then, I can't drive in to my place. Meanwhile, I'm canoeing in and out.

Thanks for the continuing updates! They're much appreciated. Sounds like things are improving a bit faster than I expected.

Good news for those of us making plans to go there this summer. Thanks Opus!

Thanks Opus!