The Results

Operational Lake Rule Band
Improved River Water Quality	Enhanced River Fisheries
Temperature Habitat Enhancement	River Recreation Survey Results

Operational Lake Rule Band

To support recreation on Deep Creek Lake, lake levels should be maintained above elevation 2,458 ft. from early May through mid-October. Drawdown also should be limited each month to permit adjustment of boat docks. To minimize the potential for erosion of sensitive lake shoreline areas, lake levels should not exceed 2461.0 ft. To reduce the potential for entrainment of walleye and perch fry, generation during the early spring should be minimized. To maintain power and energy benefits, the project should continue to operate as a peaking plant, available to generate a minimum of two hours per day on any given week day. Generation is normally scheduled during weekdays to take advantage of relatively higher power values. The figure to the right illustrates the new rule band for operating the project to maintain the desired lake levels to achieve these objectives.

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Improved River Water Quality

Releases of water from the Deep Creek Station can have a pronounced impact on dissolved oxygen (DO) in the Youghiogheny River, particularly during the summer months (click here for figure). Penelec conducted a feasibility study of alternative ways to meet Maryland DO standards and identified a tailrace weir and an oxygen injection system as the most promising alternatives. The tailrace weir was determined to be the most practical and cost-effective solution to correct the DO problem. The tailrace weir, basically a small waterfall which aerates the water after discharge from the power plant, was constructed and ready for operation in December 1994. It is shaped like a "W" to provide the required 430 length needed for aeration within the 40 foot tailrace channel. It is 8.4 feet high and results in a reduction in energy production of about 1% due to headloss. Results show that it is very effective at improving DO in the tailrace at startup. Even with a discharge DO level of less than 0.5 parts per million (ppm), the tailrace DO was never lower than 4.9 ppm. Uptake rates of DO ranged from 0.5 to 4.5 ppm, depending on the discharge DO level.

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Enhanced River Fisheries

Many variables have affected trout populations numbers in the Youghiogheny River since 1987 when MDNR began sampling. These factors include drought summers (e.g., 1987, 1988, 1991), variable stocking rates, unknown harvest, the catch and release regulations implemented in 1993, and the habitat temperature enhancement measures implemented in 1994. However, standing crop estimates indicate an improving population at Hoyes Run. Measurements at Sang Run are more uncertain due to greater difficulty in sampling in that portion of the river.

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Temperature Habitat Enhancement

The temperature enhancement protocol was formally implemented in the summer of 1995. The figure to the left shows river temperatures on a typical hot summer day when releases from Deep Creek Station keep the water cool. A report evaluating results for 1995 through 2000 is available in pdf format, Youghiogheny River Temperature Enhancement Protocol for Operating Deep Creek Hydroelectric Station: Model Development and Results for 1995-2000.

Implementation of the temperature enhancement protocol between 1995 and 2000 was very successful at maintaining lower temperatures than would otherwise have occurred in the river without the releases. In summary, the total number of days when temperature exceeded 25 °C at Sang Run ranged from two in 1996 to 18 in 1995 (see table below). Temperatures in excess of 25 °C at Sang Run without operation of the Deep Creek Project would have ranged from a minimum of four to 10 days in 1996 to a maximum of 44 to 69 days in 1999. Maximum river temperature rarely exceeded 27 °C at Sang Run and was less than 26 °C on most of the days when it exceeded 25 °C. In contrast, the actual maximum temperature at Swallow Falls was above 27.5 °C 10 times in 1995 and 14 times in 1999. Maximum temperature exceeded 30 °C seven times and six times in those same years. The data from Swallow Falls also suggests that there were very few days when releasing water for temperature enhancement was unnecessary.

Summary of temperature enhancement releases from Deep Creek Station over the 6-year period from 1995 through 2000.
	Year
River conditions	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Total releases for temperature	24	8	13	10	29	8
Days > 25 °C at Swallow Falls	52	10	25	21	69	8
Days > 25 °C at Sang Run(a)	18	2	11	10	12	3
Days < 25 °C at Swallow Falls on temperature enhancement release day(b)	1	1	1(c)	1(c)	0	4
(a) False negatives, meaning needed release not made or not made in time. (b) Potential false positives, meaning release made but may not have been not needed. (c) Sang Run exceeded 25 °C on these days even though Swallow Falls did not.

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River Recreation Survey

PPRP's survey of private whitewater boating counted a total of 2,356 boaters from June 7 to October 14, 1996 and 4,249 boaters from April 18 to October 13, 1997. The total number of private boaters projected for the entire boating season (April 15 through October 15) was 3,510 for 1996 and 4,398 for 1997, when adjusted for days not surveyed. In comparison, there were 3,050 and 3,356 commercial raft customers reported for 1996 and 1997, respectively. Seventy-seven percent of boaters used the scheduled whitewater releases in 1996 while over 97% used these releases in 1997, a year in which fewer days were available with boatable natural flows or other scheduled and announced releases. Only a small percentage used natural flows, temperature enhancement releases, or other unscheduled releases. Most boaters surveyed reside in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia. A total of 41 states including the District of Columbia and 11 foreign countries were represented.

Because most scheduled whitewater releases occur on Mondays and Fridays, most use occurred on those days, regardless of whether or not these days were on holiday weekends. Use was very high on holiday weekends, with the highest average occurring on holiday Saturdays in 1997 (131 boaters per day). The maximum number of private boaters on a single day during the period surveyed occurred on July 19, 1997 (170 boaters in 154 boats of all types). Based on the numbers of commercial rafters reported for the last 7 years, usage of the Upper Youghiogheny River by commercial boaters appears to be relatively stable and not increasing in total numbers. No conclusive statements can be made regarding total annual usage patterns of the river by private boaters, based on results of this survey and two previous surveys. However, peak daily usage was greater in 1997 than in earlier years sampled (1988, 1995 and 1996).

The complete recreation survey report (Survey of Noncommercial Recreational Use of Whitewater in the Upper Youghiogheny River, 1996-1997) is available on-line as a pdf file.  Note that you will have to have the Adobe Acrobat reader installed on your system to view this file; to obtain the Adobe Acrobat reader, click here.

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