According to figures reported by the Tennessee Valley Authority's web site today at 6 a.m., Normandy was at an elevation of 860.15 feet above sea level, with water flowing out of the lake at a rate of 42 cubic feet per second (cfs).

The level at the same time last Monday was 858.66 feet, which means the level is up 1.49 feet. TVA estimates put the inflow Monday at 370 cfs, and the level of the lake is expected to reach 860.70 feet by Wednesday.

But even with the added rain, and more expected later this week, the level of the lake is still far below where it should be. According to Normandy's operating guide, the lake should be around a level of 866 feet at this time of year.

According to data supplied by TVA, only a total of 7.45 inches of rain have fallen at Normandy Lake since the first of the year: A total of 1.84 inches in January, 3.30 inches in February and 2.31 in the first 16 days of March.

Last week, Doug Murphy of the Shelbyville-based Tennessee Duck River Agency told Bedford County commissioners that Normandy Lake is now rising but is still far lower than they would like it to be.

Murphy said the area is in the third year of a drought which started in March 2006; the National Weather Service officially predicts three to five more years of drought, with some informal speculation that it might last longer, or that drought periods might be more and more common during the coming decades due to changing ocean currents and weather patterns.

Possible short-term remedies for the area's water problems include raising Normandy Dam, to increase the storage capacity of Normandy Lake during times of rainfall. A water use program would work with developers to make sure that new homes built in the area have water-conserving fixtures like low-flow toilets and shower heads.

According to TVA, the Tennessee River watershed has one of the highest annual rainfall totals of any watershed in the United States, with an average of 51 inches of rain a year.

The monthly average rainfall in the Tennessee Valley ranges from 3.0 to 5.5 inches, TVA says, with March, July, and December typically being the wettest months, and September through November typically the driest. Of course, in any year, the wettest and driest months may be different.

The monthly average runoff varies from a high of almost four inches in March to a low of less than one inch in August, September, and October, TVA says.