Autumn weather has been drier than usual, leading to lower lake levels at Geist and Morse reservoirs, but an official with Citizens Energy Group — which provides water for much of the greater Indianapolis area — said it’s not a concern at this time.
Steve Berube is director of water production for Citizens Energy Group. He said in an email exchange that the company anticipates reservoir levels will recover completely before next summer.
“Current reservoir levels are 6 inches below the spillway at Geist Reservoir and 2 inches below the spillway at Morse Reservoir,” he said. “This is notably higher than they would be without recent improvements to our water supply infrastructure.”
Those improvements include the 2020 completion of Citizens Reservoir on Olio Road next to Geist Reservoir. According to Citizens’ website, the converted limestone quarry stores more than 3 billion gallons. That’s about half the capacity of Geist Reservoir.
“Without these improvements, we estimate that Geist Reservoir’s current level would be approximately 2 feet below the spillway and Morse Reservoir’s current level would be approximately 4 feet below the spillway,” Berube said. “We have pumped more than 800 million gallons out of Citizens Reservoir year-to-date, which previously would have had to be released from Morse and Geist reservoir storage.”
He said that in previous dry years, both Geist and Morse have been as low as 10 feet below the spillway.
A spillway is part of a dam that releases water when lakes are at flood level.
Berube noted that the best way individuals could help conserve water is by reducing the amount they use for their lawns. He said lawn irrigation is the primary driver of summer and autumn water consumption.
“Whereas Citizens is very confident in our water supply, it is also true that residential and commercial lawn watering can represent up to 70 percent of the volume we distribute during the warmer months,” he said. “Proactively limiting lawn irrigation can be a real help in removing stress on our infrastructure system. Wise water usage has a direct benefit to our community’s water supply.”
According to the National Weather Service, rainfall at Indianapolis International Airport — the official measurement location for the area — is below average so far this year. Through October, total rainfall is 36.16 inches. Normal rainfall would put the area at 37.26 through October. November totals have not yet been calculated, but a daily online measurement shows less than half an inch for the month through Nov. 19.
A typical rainfall for November is 3.45 inches. Annual rainfall for the Indianapolis area averages 43.63 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
