Although up to seven inches of rain is in the forecast for the Hot Springs area, Entergy Arkansas, Inc. officials report that the water level situation is under control on lakes Ouachita, Hamilton, and Catherine.

For several weeks Entergy Arkansas and the Corps of Engineers have been coordinating efforts to reduce lake levels to accommodate unusually high quantities of incoming rain.

Entergy Arkansas, which operates the dams that control the levels of lakes Hamilton and Catherine, reduced the two lakes’ levels Wednesday to the bottom end of the normal summertime operating range, which allows the level to vary by one foot on Lake Hamilton and two feet on Lake Catherine.

Based on new forecasts and consultation with the National Weather Service, the company decided this morning to take additional action today, lowering Lake Hamilton an additional foot and lowering Lake Catherine an additional six inches.

Lakefront property owners are encouraged to secure boats and docks against rapidly changing lake levels as a flash flood could cause a rapid refilling of these lakes. This is especially so in the upper end of the lakes where the major tributaries of Big and Little Mazarn creeks come in.

Also, residents should be aware of a higher volume of water in the Ouachita River below Remmel Dam. Entergy Arkansas will be releasing 10,000 cubic feet per second of water from Remmel Dam throughout this weather event.

Entergy Arkansas encourages all homes in the area to have a NOAA weather radio. In the case of a high-water emergency, Entergy Arkansas immediately notifies the National Weather Service, which issues an alert through NOAA weather radios.

The NOAA weather radio is also be used to warn of severe weather, such as tornados, which is also a possibility tonight.

Entergy Arkansas, Inc. provides electricity to 680,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13 billion and approximately 14,700 employees.

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