Tim Philhower is the President of the Board and the Director from Place 4. He as been a lake front homeowner since 1996. Mr. Philhower has been approached by lake residents expressing concern about the current status of the lake level and wanted to take some time to address these concerns. Below is an open letter from Director Philhower to Lake Cypress Springs residents.
Dear Lake Cypress Springs Property Owner,
The summer season is upon us and with the lake being lower than usual for this time of the year, the District is hearing comments to the effect that “the District needs to stop letting water out of the lake”. We would like to address this concern and make a suggestion:
1) When the state of Texas passed the legislation in 1965 allowing the creation of Lake Cypress Springs the legislation clearly stated that the primary purpose of the reservoir was to supply water to the surrounding communities, businesses and agricultural concerns as needed. You can see then, that the District is mandated by law to supply raw water to the surrounding area.
2) The overall effect of the situation outlined in bullet 1) is not nearly as “bad” as it might first seem because the District’s four commercial customers pull less than two feet total off the top of the lake on an annual basis and this amount is not forecasted by the TWDB to grow significantly in the next 20 years. Engineers tell the District that evaporation during the hot months amounts to 48 inches off the lake surface.
3) The largest of the District’s customers, the City of Mt. Pleasant, is the only one that receives its’ water via the release of water from Lake Cypress Springs to Lake Bob Sandlin. This release constitutes almost half of the District’s total annual commercial sales and is usually completed in February of each year. By completing this release early in the year, the lake would normally fill back up with the spring rains. The other customers have pumping stations on the lake and pump throughout the year as needed. Their needs amount to about an inch of surface area per month on average.
4) The lake responds well to normal rainfall, but it did not receive normal spring or winter rains in 2012 and entered 2013 lower than we would all desire. So far in 2013, the rains have again been below normal and consequently the lake is about 20 inches below normal pool level.
The bottom line then, is that we need rain, and it is getting very late in the season to expect a large rain event. It might happen, we certainly hope so, but to be certain that you have the usage of your boat this summer, we suggest that you consider putting your boat on a trailer until such time as the lake returns to a more normal elevation.
Please contact us with any other questions or concerns that you might have.
Sincerely,
Tim Philhower
President of the Board, Director Place 4
Lake Front Homeowner Since 1996