The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District is actively monitoring this week’s forecasted heavy rainfall and is preparing for potential wide-spread, moderate to major flooding throughout portions of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. Cumulative rainfall totals for this event may range from 2 to more than15 inches, resulting in elevated lake levels at the district’s Flood Risk Management (FRM) reservoirs.
Based on current data, the Louisville District is forecasting that Rough River Lake, Falls of Rough, Kentucky, could reach its spillway pool of 524 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) as early as tonight, April 4, 2025. Current forecasts show that the pool could reach anywhere between 530 and 532 MSL. As of today, April 4, 2025, the project is currently 91 percent full and can store approximately another 1.2 inches of additional runoff before reaching the spillway.
A spillway event is not a failure of the dam. A spillway event just means that the dam has reached its storage capacity and we are unable to hold back the lake above a specified elevation. The spillway is designed to provide a safe path for the excess flows once the dam reaches maximum capacity…