Greenbelt rises to best level since 2019

A wet spring and summer have improved conditions significantly at Lake Greenbelt with a water level increase of as much as 2.5 feet.

Greenbelt Water Authority General Manager Bobbie Kidd said Monday that the reservoir is currently at 43.99 feet, which is higher than it has been since September of 2019.

“We’ve caught a lot of water,” Kidd said. “We’ve gone up 1.5 feet just from Memorial Day to July Fourth.”

The last time Greenbelt had a significant increase was in May of 2015 when the lake went up ten feet, Kidd said.

The National Weather Service in Amarillo said the Mesonet site southwest of Clarendon has recorded 8.56 inches of rain since Memorial Day. KVII-TV’s SchoolNet site in Clarendon has recorded 17.01 inches since the first of the year, and the SchoolNet site on the Matthews Ranch north of Clarendon has measured 24.78 inches.

A fast rising water level is good for the lake and for area residents who depend on it, but Kidd said it does come with a downside. Fast flowing water and covering up vegetation on the shores causes the water to develop a taste and an odor that longtime area residents are familiar with but is a new experience for some people. That phenomenon is compounded, Kidd said, when temperatures swing from 105 degrees and then drop 30 or more degrees to the 70s.

Kidd said Greenbelt did get a few complaints when that happened recently.

Also helping the lake level is lower usage by its consumers this summer, but it may not be just cooler, wetter weather that has contributed to that.

“I think COVID had a lot of people staying home and planting gardens last year,” Kidd said.
Kidd said Greenbelt continues to supplement usage of surface water with about 30 percent groundwater from well fields in Clarendon and on Kelly Creek. Most of the groundwater comes from Kelly Creek, he said.

Kidd also said that despite what some experts are saying, the recent rainfall has not snapped the continuing dry spell in the Texas Panhandle.

“We’re still in a drought. Let’s be honest,” Kidd said. “Down south they can get this kind of rain and heal up, but it will take more than this to heal us up here.”