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Reporter-News Archives Tuesday, April 27, 1999 Rains take some strain off lake levels, city water By JERRY DANIEL REED Senior Staff Writer Overnight storms crashed through the Big Country before ending Monday morning, dropping ample rainfall in spots. But everyone’s still looking for that elusive drought-buster. Area rainfall reports were as high as 3 inches, such as in Ballinger where the mood definitely wasn’t to carp about minor street flooding. “Who cares?’’ asked Chamber of Commerce official Linda Boone, one of many to welcome the soaking. Minor flooding was also reported in Brownwood and Coleman. Several Big Country towns, virtually all in the south and east, reported rainfall totals of 2 inches or more: Cisco, Coleman, Cross Plains, Gorman, and Brownwood. Gorman’s came with egg-sized hail, which dented cars but caused little other reported harm. Abilene Regional Airport reported .66 inch during the night, added to .27 the previous night. Such amounts won’t fill Lake Fort Phantom Hill, conceded Abilene water superintendent Dwayne Hargesheimer. But stacked on previous rainfalls since late March, the latest downpour has at least helped stabilize the lake level at just over 15 feet below spillway. The major factor that has steadied the lake level, Hargesheimer said, has been the suspension of pumping from the lake for Abilene’s water needs last November. Since then the city’s tap water has flowed exclusively from Lake Hubbard Creek Lake, 55 miles away near Breckenridge. Abilene, Brecken-ridge, Anson and Albany share in that lake as partners in the West Central Municipal Water District. The rainfall did slash the demand on city water over the wet weekend. Weekday consumption last week topped out in the 25-26 million-gallon range, dropping to 15.5 million gallons on Sunday, Hargesheimer said. But he said it will take a 3-4 inch downpour to start raising the lake level appreciably. If the rains didn’t make for a fuller lake, they did create a busier airport for a short while Monday morning. A half-dozen airliners were temporarily diverted here from Dallas-Forth Worth Inter-national, which sat under a wicked rainstorm at the time. Abilene Regional Airport general manager Rick Crider said all the Delta and American Airlines passengers stayed on board. Such unscheduled landings happen at the airport about once a month, usually because of weather, he said. The area’s weather pattern of recent weeks may give cause for cautious optimism that the drought may be dwindling if not breaking. The National Weather Service forecasts only a couple more days of dry, clear weather before the clouds return to bring a chance of more rainfall toward the end of the week. Senior Staff Writers Roy A. Jones II and Ken Ellsworth contributed to this report. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:  texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local News Texas News Copyright ©1999, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications

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