East Texas

By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer

Tyler's lakes are at healthy levels in spite of a rather dry July, city officials say.

Recent rains have helped bring water levels in Lake Palestine and Lake Tyler to very near the spillway, said the city's Water Production and Quality Manager Mitch Marable.

Lake Tyler and Lake Tyler East have seen a 1-foot rise in elevation in the past month, bringing the water level two-tenths of a foot below the spillway. Lake Palestine is eight-tenths of a foot below.

"The lake levels, right now, are very good," Marable said.

Rain has helped keep the levels up, he said. According to AccuWeather.com, Tyler and the surrounding area received close to eight inches of rain since Aug. 1, and more rain is expected through Tuesday. Contrast those figures with July, which brought only one-tenth of an inch of rain. But even with a month long drought, Marable said Tyler's lakes are just about where they were last year when East Texas experienced several months of constant rain.

"This has been a pretty good year, as far as the lakes are doing," he said. "We expect them to be just a little below the spillway during the summer months."

Lake Tyler, Lake Tyler East and Lake Palestine are primary surface water sources for the city of Tyler. But pumping on theses lakes doesn't do as much to reduce water levels as evaporation, Marable said.

"Evaporation has a much larger impact than pumping," he said.

In fact, city officials say Tyler has enough water available to supply the city and surrounding areas through the year 2084. As a result, Tyler residents have not had to restrict water usage this summer.

"Unlike other areas of the state, we are not asking our customers to restrict water usage because we have plenty of water available," said Greg Morgan, Tyler Water Utilities director, in late July. "We do, however, encourage residents to water lawns early in the morning, instead of during the heat of the day, to reduce evaporation. This will save customers money and make sure the watering they do is effective."

Two sailboats pass each other on Lake Tyler in Whitehouse.
(Staff Photo By Mark Roberts)