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Lake Level


Floradude

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This morning I saw my first small (long and skinny) raft of lirio drifting off shore of Ajijic.  
This usually signifies that a good flow of water from the two rivers is entering the lake.  A decade or more ago I used to see vast rafts of lirio covering the lake.

Now to a question about the Lake Level.  I should know the answer because I have lived here a long time and read enough articles about the lake but I do not know/remember the answer.     Lake Chapala Weather Net reports the lake level at  94.99 M.    Being a science person I know the "M" is an abbreviation for Meter.

So the lake is at 94.99 Meters ?  We know that Lake Chapala is a very shallow lake and not over 280 feet deep.   What does the 94.99 M.   tell us?

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Years ago someone determined that the lake was full at a certain point, perhaps a bridge, I do not remember and that level was called 100.

So now we are only 5 meters short of what this expert declared the lake to be full many years ago. If we were at 100 most of us today would think that the lake was flooding.

The above is what I remember reading many years ago. If I am wrong, someone please correct me.

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4 minutes ago, AngusMactavish said:

Would M=milli sate your query? 

M in this case stands for meters.

mm signifies millimeters.

The lake is at the 94.99 meter benchmark.  Still a ways to go to equal last year's level.

Another strong tropical wave headed this way, over the Yucatan right now.  Could be another nice rain maker.  Note this is not the same as a tropical storm or depression.  It is basically a west moving low pressure trough associated with the monsoon air current.  At the moment that seems well positioned to send some more rain this way

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Pete, your answer is essentially correct. Give yourself an A+.

The arbitrary level (cota) of 100 .00 was fixed on a bridge decades ago. The bridge no longer exists, but the cota of 100.00 [elevation 1526.8 meters above mean sea level] has not changed. Owing to various hydrological engineering works, the lake is now considered "full" at cota 97.80. The lake would be "empty" at about 90.00.

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Only in MX? But, Angus has the link, it translates roughly to:

Quota

A dimension is the numerical value of any level with respect to another level that has previously been assigned a fixed dimension. In all the world is used like fixed level the one of the sea, whose quota is 0.00m. In order to measure the level of the lake an arbitrary quota established by the Engineer Luis P. Ballesteros in 1910 is taken, taking a fixed point located in the old bridge of the Cuitzeo, on the River Santiago, to the entrance of the population of Ocotlán. At that point he was assigned the quota 100.00, which is equivalent to 1,526.80 meters above sea level (msnm).

In 1981, the Secretariat of Hydraulic Resources (SARH) established a new equivalence to the boundary of Ballesteros adjusting it 80 centimeters to be at 1,526 msnm. As a result, the maximum capacity of the lake was established at elevation 97.80 (1,523.80 masl), with a maximum depth of 8 meters and a maximum storage of 7,897 Mm3.
 
As to the Reporters numbers, I have no idea where they get them. 3 years ago I contacted them regarding the temps they publish for Ajijic and no one could give me an answer and sometimes they seem to be appropriated from thin air?
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Giltner68 wrote As to the Reporters numbers, I have no idea where they get them. 3 years ago I contacted them regarding the temps they publish for Ajijic and no one could give me an answer and sometimes they seem to be appropriated from thin air?

 

Hey Giltner:

At one time the weather given for Chapala came from a weather station at the lake run by the now shut down Mexican weather channel. When that was shut down, I understand or kind of remember that the weather report shown from Lake Chapala, came from data at the Guadalajara Airport, which always was different than the real thing here lakeside.  I would have thought they would have used your weather station once you were up and running.

 

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4 hours ago, Al Berca said:

"The lake currently stands at 59% of its full capacity."  This week's Reporter.

Giltner68 - Bear in mind that a small difference in level means a big increase in volume, and the higher the level in the first place, the larger the increase in volume for any given increase in level. The Reporter numbers correspond to the data and reported level (cota) of 94.99.

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16 hours ago, tonyburton said:

Giltner68 - Bear in mind that a small difference in level means a big increase in volume, and the higher the level in the first place, the larger the increase in volume for any given increase in level. The Reporter numbers correspond to the data and reported level (cota) of 94.99.

Gosh, I've lived on or near lakes for the last 35 years and that never occurred to me, the two are related? - well, I'll have to study up on that one - but if you'll read my post again, I was referring to temps.

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From Lake Chapala weather with less rain than last year which was just over 49 inches. Go figure?

Chapala Lake Level   
SEP 7, 2017
  95.17M     

 

2017   LOW 94.08M   HIGH ??.??
2016   LOW 94.12M   HIGH 95.34M
2015   LOW 93.70M   HIGH 95.15M
2014   LOW 93.15M   HIGH 94.44M
2013   LOW
93.08M   HIGH 94.05M    
2012   LOW 94.04M   HIGH 94.53M

2011   LOW 95.20M   HIGH 95.44M
2010   LOW 95.06M   HIGH 96.62M
2009   LOW 95.44M   HIGH 95.83M
2008   LOW 94.53M   HIGH
96.72M
2007   LOW 93.90M   HIGH 95.68M

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Lake Chapala's watershed is to the south and east of us.  Although we had very heavy local rains last year, the watershed received much less.  This year we are running just a little over average but it is much wetter than last year over the watershed.  The remains of Katia could bring strong rains to the watershed and bolster this effect.

Wouldn't it be great to see the lake hit 96 meters again?

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This is fantastic as you stated today we have 25.28 and once we go 6 centimeters we will match last years high, something we should reach perhaps Wednesday and looking at the two previous years, the water continues to go up until late Oct. to mid November  So our water levels could end up much higher than last year (I hope) :)

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95.19 friday. Today 95.28.

30mm daily in my book.

Wednesday we should equal last years height with still six or seven weeks fill to come.

 

 

Apples vs oranges: results are based on when data was selectively imported.

95281-9519 = 91/3=30.33

1 / 15.71= 0.06365372374284* 30.33= 1.93061744112034

Represents a 19.306% daily increase for the 3 days cited by chapel weather vs the 14days previously cited by Conagua

 

As of yesterday 4 Sep the lake was 61.27% full and had risen 22cm in the previous 2 weeks, CONAGUA data.

The rate of increase in the lake level has increased dramatically over this last weekend with much more to hopefully arrive shortly?

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