News & Bulletins

News Release

by | Jan 17, 2018

State’s Reservoirs PREVENT MAJOR HUDSON RIVER FLOODING
Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir Reduce Peak Hudson River Flow by 74%

The Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir provided 1.93 billion cubic feet of water storage on January 13 preventing the Hudson River from reaching flood stage from the Town of Hadley to Fort Edward.  The State’s two Hudson River regulating reservoirs stored more than 14.37 billion gallons of runoff on Saturday, reducing the peak Hudson River flow by approximately 26,100 cubic feet per second (cfs) Saturday morning.

Last week’s rainfall and runoff from melting snow caused the Hudson River to reach a peak flow of about 9,500 cfs at Hadley and 13,000 cfs at Fort Edward on Saturday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.  The storage capacity of the Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir prevented the Hudson River at Fort Edward from reaching flood stage.

Without the combined storage capacity of the State’s Hudson River regulating reservoirs, Hudson River flow would have peaked at more than 35,000 cfs at Corinth and 39,000 at Fort Edward.  The reservoirs prevented the Hudson River from reaching a flood stage of 28.5 feet at Fort Edward, about 0.5 feet below major flood stage, on January 13.  Operation of the Great Sacandaga Lake reduced the height of flood water by more than 4.5 feet, significantly reducing potential flood damage to buildings, roads and bridges in Hadley, Corinth, South Glens Falls, Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Fort Edward.

If Great Sacandaga Lake had not been constructed to retain a flood event like that which occurred on Saturday then flooding and inundation of roads in Northumberland, camps in Lake Luzerne, parts of Route 9N and cellars in homes in Corinth, first floors of structures along Old Bend Road in Moreau, and numerous roads and property in the Village of Fort Edward, would have occurred.

by | Apr 10, 2017

NEWS RELEASE
April 10, 2017

State’s Reservoirs PREVENT MAJOR HUDSON RIVER FLOODING

Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir Reduce Peak Hudson River Flow by 67%
 
The Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir provided 2.23 billion cubic feet of water storage on April 7 preventing the Hudson River from reaching major flood stage from the Town of Hadley to Fort Edward.  The State’s two Hudson River regulating reservoirs stored more than 16.64 billion gallons of runoff on Friday, reducing the peak Hudson River flow by approximately 32,850 cubic feet per second (cfs) Friday morning.
 
Last week’s rainfall and runoff from melting snow caused the Hudson River to reach an average flow of about 16,400 cfs at Hadley on Friday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.  With the storage capacity of the Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir, the Hudson River at Fort Edward never reached flood stage.
 
Without the combined storage capacity of the State’s Hudson River regulating reservoirs, Hudson River flow at Corinth would have peaked at more than 49,250 cfs, and would have resulted in Hudson River flow exceeding major flood stage at Fort Edward by more than 2.3 feet on April 7.  Operation of the Great Sacandaga Lake reduced the height of flood water by more than 6.2 feet, significantly reducing potential flood damage to buildings, roads and bridges in Hadley, Corinth, South Glens Falls, Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Fort Edward.
 
If Great Sacandaga Lake had not been constructed to retain a flood event like that which occurred on Friday then major flooding including roads in Northumberland, camps in Lake Luzerne, parts of Route 9N in Corinth, and numerous roads and property in the Village of Fort Edward would have been inundated.

by | Apr 7, 2017

NEWS RELEASE
March 2, 2017

STATE’S RESERVOIRS REDUCE HUDSON RIVER FLOODING

Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir Reduce Peak Hudson River Flow by 70%
Stillwater Reservoir Reduce Peak Black River Flow by 13%

The Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir provided 1.89 billion cubic feet of water storage on Saturday, February 26, reducing the level of flooding in the Hudson River from the Town of Hadley to Fort Edward. The State’s two Hudson River regulating reservoirs stored more than 14.1 billion gallons of runoff on Saturday, reducing the Hudson River flow by approximately 29,900 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Rainfall and runoff from melting snow on Friday and Saturday caused the Hudson River to peak at a flow rate of 16,200 cfs at Hadley on February 26, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Thanks to the storage capacity of the Great Sacandaga Lake and Indian Lake Reservoir, the Hudson River at Fort Edward never reached flood stage. Without the combined storage capacity of the State’s Hudson River regulating reservoirs, Hudson River flow at Corinth would have peaked at more than 42,600 cfs, and would have resulted in Hudson River flow exceeding major flood stage at Fort Edward on February 26. Operation of the Great Sacandaga Lake significantly reduced potential flood damage to buildings, roads and bridges in Hadley, Corinth, South Glens Falls, Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, and Fort Edward.

Reservoirs in the Regulating District’s Black River Area also experienced increased inflow on Saturday, and stored approximately 0.16 billion cubic feet, or 1.19 billion gallons of runoff. Stillwater Reservoir reduced the Black River flow by approximately 2,000 cfs, and reduced the daily average flow at Watertown by approximately 13%.

District Meetings Canceled

by | Jan 9, 2017

The District’s Annual Organizational and Regular Monthly meetings scheduled for Tuesday, January 10, 2017 were cancelled due to the lack of a quorum required to conduct public business pursuant to Open Meetings Law.

Both meetings have been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 14, 2016, at the Northampton Town Hall.

Executive Director Hired

by | May 11, 2016

The Board of the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District is pleased to announce the hiring of Robert J. Smullen as its next Executive Director effective May 19, 2016.  Mr. Smullen served in the United States Marine Corps, rising to the rank of Colonel before his retirement in 2015.  He served as an infantry officer on active duty, completing three combat tours in Afghanistan.  A 1986 graduate of Gloversville High School, he also attended Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and the National Defense University.  Colonel Smullen has been married for nineteen years and has four children.