Hudson Lake Drain Has Been Closed for Over One Year
The Hudson Lake Drain was serviced and fully closed on Tuesday September 20, 2022. The drain has remained closed ever since.
With the installation of the ToltHawk in January 2023, we’ve been able to track how our lake behaves related to temperature, precipitation, and evaporation. Below are some stats we’ve compiled from gathered data.
High Level (inches above the weir) 13.085" (May 2 – May 14, 2023)
Low Level (inches above the weir) 0.62” (February 5, 2023)
We had no days with water below the weir.
Days under 6” than the weir: 159 (January – February 2023 and June – October 2023)
Days above 12” than the weir: 25 (April – Mid-May 2023)
We’ve started compiling the data to see if there were any clear relationships between level and temperature or level and precipitation. It's hard to see any real pattern aside from, when it rains, the lake level goes up and when it doesn't during warmer weather, the lake level goes down.
It appears that 50 degrees might be a point where we begin to see loss from evaporation. Winds – not measured here – also contribute to this. We have seen a loss of 1-2" per week without rain in the summer months with 76*F/0.5" rain appearing to be a stable point.
We need to continue to gather more historical data to better understand any trends for our lake – being allowed to be a lake – on its own with no man-made drain intervention. As we can gather more data, we hope that patterns become more apparent and accurate.
ToltHawk data is updated monthly on the HLCAIndiana.com website. There is also a link on the site to see lake water levels since its installation.
The drain was serviced on Friday, November 3rd. All was in working order. The drain exit gate was secured with a lock to prevent entrapment. HLCA drain team has keys. The drain remains closed, and the ditch is dry.
