ROANOKE, Va., March 8, 2011 – Water levels at Appalachian Power’s two major hydroelectric generating facilities in southwestern Virginia are being lowered below normal “full pond” in anticipation of predicted heavy mid-week rains and increased inflow from tributaries.
 
The facilities are the Smith Mountain Pumped Storage Project on the Roanoke River located southeast of Roanoke and the Claytor Hydroelectric Project on the New River in Pulaski County.
Today Appalachian Power increased the discharge of water from the Leesville Dam into the Roanoke River (Staunton River) and allowed additional flow from the Smith Mountain Dam into Leesville Lake.
 
The normal full pond level at Smith Mountain Lake is 795 feet above sea level as measured at the dam. The normal full pond for Leesville Lake is 613 feet.
 
Additional water was also being released from Claytor Dam into the New River. The normal full pond level for the Claytor reservoir is 1,846 feet.
 
Appalachian urges caution when boating or participating in other activities on or near these two projects during these releases or if higher than normal water levels develop as a result of anticipated rains. Boats at docks should be properly secured if water rises above normal levels. Lakefront property owners should take actions they feel are necessary to secure personal property.
 
Interested persons may view current water flow and elevation readings for Smith Mountain Project, Claytor Project and other hydroelectric generating facilities operated by Appalachian Power and its parent company American Electric Power at this site:
http://www.aep.com/environmental/recreation/hydro 
 
Smith Mountain Project is a 636-megawatt pumped storage hydroelectric facility that utilizes an upper reservoir (Smith Mountain Lake) and a lower reservoir (Leesville Lake). The two lakes combined encompass about 24,000 surface acres. Water stored in Smith Mountain Lake passes through turbine generators in the powerhouse to produce electricity and is discharged into Leesville Lake.  Most of the water is retained in Leesville Lake and pumped back into the Smith Mountain Lake for re-use.  A portion of the water goes through the turbine-generators at the Leesville powerhouse to generate additional electricity and to meet the minimum discharge requirements of the project´s operating license.
 
The Claytor Hydroelectric Project includes about 4,500 surface acres in its reservoir and can produce 75-megawatts of electricity. The dam is located about five miles upstream of Radford, Va.
 
Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. 
 
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