In spite of drought, Bear Creek Reservoir is full

However, Thomas quickly added that his committee monitors the situation weekly.

“We reserve the right to have a called meeting to request going to another level of drought management,” he told the authority.

The authority’s drought management plan uses three indicators — reservoir level, stream levels and soil moisture levels — to determine when it needs to implement its drought management plan. After the meeting, Thomas said that the soil moisture level is becoming an issue but is still not at a critical point.

“It is at a much higher state than we were back then,” he said referring to the 2006-07 drought.

The widely scattered afternoon showers of recent weeks, while spotty, occurred often enough to boost the water flow in the Middle Oconee River to enable the authority to pump enough water to keep the reservoir full, Thomas explained.

In addition, Athens-Clarke continues to be able to withdraw water from the North and Middle Oconee rivers, which means it does not require any water — for the time being — from the reservoir.

“When that happens, you will see the reservoir level dropping and it will be time to go into our drought contingency plan,” Thomas said.

He also explained that since the last drought, the local aquifer has recovered significantly, and the higher water tables keep the little feeder streams and creeks flowing.

The authority pumped just shy of 10 million gallons of water a day to Jackson, Barrow and Oconee counties during July, according to Hill Baughman, who manages the water treatment plant.