LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — Docks are sitting on the ground in some areas of the Lake of the Ozarks, as the Lake level reaches its annual low point for Ameren Missouri’s winter drawdown.

According to Ameren Missouri the Lake level at Bagnell Dam was 654.48 on Monday, March 13, which is in line with the guide curve for this time of year.

The photo above was taken on the Gravois Arm of the Lake. Ozarks Barge and Dock owner Nina Gennetten said the business had to move its dock assembly operations across the cove to a deeper area.

Ameren keeps the Lake levels lower in the spring due to the expectation of spring rains. Dam operators follow a guide curve for target water levels throughout the year. From mid-February through the beginning of April, the guide curve sets the ideal level at 654 feet, with a lower limit of 651. 

Operators begin raising the water level in early April, with the aim of restoring the Lake level to 659 feet by Memorial Day weekend.

The low water level can be an annoyance to dock owners in shallow water, but it benefits lakefront property owners, as it gives them a chance to inspect and repair their seawall before the summer boating season begins.

During the 2016 winter drawdown, dam operators—still reeling from two catastrophic floods in 2015—dropped the Lake level in anticipation of heavy rains that never came. As a result, the Lake dropped below 653 feet—lower than it had been in at least six years.

Ameren would have to get permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to drop more than three feet beneath the guide curve, and that would only happen in extreme circumstances, Dam Operator Warren Witt says. Even then, the company would be bound by an emergency lower limit of 645 feet.

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