Fay cuts drought, does little for reservoir

Most of Bedford County has moved back into the "moderate" drought category as the remnants of Tropical Depression Fay finished drenching the region with rain this past week.

But Fay did little to raise the level of Normandy Reservoir, with the water supply only increasing by a fraction before falling again.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, only a small area in Bedford County, the northeastern tip near Bell Buckle and Beech Grove, is still considered in a "severe" drought.

A large area of middle Tennessee was also downgraded from the "extreme" category back to "severe" following the wake of Fay.

However, the cut off time for the Drought Monitor was 6 a.m. Tuesday, which means that any rain that fell after that point was not included in the weekly survey.

No measurable rainfall was recorded in August by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) at Normandy until Sunday, when .20 inches were measured. A total of 1.01 inches of rain fell there on Monday, with 1.24 recorded Tuesday and .01 on Wednesday, totaling 2.46 for the month.

But the thirsty ground apparently soaked up a majority of the moisture. At 7 a.m. Tuesday, the level of the reservoir was at 866.74 above sea level, with an estimated 162 cubic feet per second (cfs) flowing out of the dam, according to TVA data.

But Wednesday, the flow rate was slowed to 74 cfs and the level held at 866.81 feet, before falling back on Thursday morning to 866.80 feet, with the rate of flow from the dam increased to 134 cfs.

By noon Friday, the lake level had fallen back to 866.71 feet.