Lake Cumberland rises to record level
Lake Cumberland hit a record late Saturday as heavy rain pushed the giant reservoir to the highest level in its seven-decade history.
The surface of the lake rose to an elevation of 751.70 feet above sea level by 11 p.m., just over the old record of 751.69 feet from May 1984, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The water kept rising through the night, hitting 753.52 by 8 a.m. Sunday.
The corps had increased discharges from Wolf Creek Dam to more than 45,000 cubic feet per second by Sunday morning and has announced plans to increase the outflow to 60,000 on Sunday, far above the prior high rate of 40,000.
The agency said in a news release Saturday that it was important to drain more water from the lake to recover flood-storage capacity.
The increased discharge is expected to create some flooding downstream in Southern Kentucky.
