Operation Issues

Project Status

The box in the upper right part of your screen displays the current surface Water Level in the reservoir and the Generator Status at the hydro facility. Deep Creek Project provides this information as a courtesy to assist recreational users in the area plan their activities. If you are logged on to the Deep Creek Hydro web site for an extended period of time, hit the Refresh button on your toolbar to update the station data.

Water Level

The surface water level screen displays a real-time reading from a sensor located within the Intake Tower of Deep Creek Project. The sensor is accurate to within about four hundredths of a foot (0.04) under normal circumstances. Strong winds blowing towards or away from the intake structure can impact the readings, as can strong wave action on the reservoir. The screen will display "N/A" if the signal to the station is lost.

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Generator Status

The generator status screen displays the real-time status of the generators and provides valuable information to downstream water users. When the status is "ON", the generators at the Deep Creek Project are running and discharging water into the Youghiogheny River. When the status reads "OFF", the generators are not running.

The screen will display "N/A" if the signal to the station is lost.This information may be helpful when planning your recreational activities.

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Operating Rule Band

During the permitting process, the various stakeholders identified a desire  to minimize lake level fluctuations during the summer boating season. Limiting drawdown of the reservoir during summer maintains a valuable recreational resource while minimizing erosion of sensitive lake shoreline areas. To address these desires, an Operating Rule Band was developed to guide the management of the reservoir level throughout the year.

The Operating Rule Band is defined by the Upper and Lower Rule Bands, which represent the highest and lowest desirable reservoir levels at any given time. The Deep Creek Project strives to maintain the lake between these two rule bands at all times. Periods of high run-off or extreme drought conditions can result in reservoir levels outside of the Operating Rule Band. During these times, the hydro project attempts to restore the reservoir to the proper level in a reasonable amount of time.