Water Levels and Canal Operations

HINCKLEY RESERVOIR

The Hinckley Reservoir is located in Herkimer and Oneida Counties approximately 14 miles north of Utica. The Hinckley Reservoir was constructed in the valley formed by West Canada Creek, which flows south out of the Adirondack Mountains and through the reservoir on its route to the Mohawk River at Herkimer. The surface area of Hinckley Reservoir is approximately 4.5 square miles when full and is fed by a drainage area of approximately 372 square miles.

Hinckley Reservoir has an average water depth of about 28 feet and a maximum depth of approximately 75 feet from the spillway crest. When full to the spillway crest, the reservoir has a usable capacity of approximately 25.8 billion gallons.

Hinckley Reservoir was constructed by the State of New York and completed in 1915 for the purpose of supplying water to the Erie Canal. Hinckley Reservoir is owned by the State of New York, presently under the jurisdiction of the New York State Canal Corporation.

Since 2003, the Hinckley Reservoir also serves as the sole source of drinking water for about 130,000 people in the greater Utica area.

Hinckley Downstream Releases

As of April 1, 2013, the 2012 Operating Diagram will be used to regulate the downstream release of Hinckley Reservoir waters. The 2012 Operating Diagram establishes the rates (in cubic feet per second) at which water is to be discharged from Hinckley Reservoir on a semiweekly basis. The downstream discharge established by the 2012 Operating Diagram reduces as the reservoir level recedes in order to maintain sufficient water in Hinckley Reservoir to maintain canal navigation and other uses. The Operating Diagram also provides for increased reservoir releases as the reservoir level increases to help mitigate downstream flood concerns.

Current Hinckley Levels

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Hinckley Reservoir Water Levels

Information on this page provides current data and operating parameters related to ongoing management of Hinckley Reservoir water levels.
Previous Data

Date	Hinckley Reservoir Elevation (ft)	Hinckley Reservoir Comparison to Elevation Trigger (ft)¹	Hinckley Reservoir Comparison to Normal Elevation (ft)²	Hinckley Reservoir Discharge (cfs)³	2012 Operation Diagram Release (cfs)⁴	Hinckley Reservoir Inflow (cfs)	Hinckley Reservoir 30-day Running Average Inflow (cfs)⁵	Wilmurt Streamgage Flow (cfs)⁶	Black Creek Flow (cfs)	Mohawk Valley Water Authority Withdrawal (cfs)
03-24	1220.2	1220.1	20.1	1412	1400	1527	1727	1180	294	N/A
03-23	1220.1	1220	20.2	1421	1400	2051	1686	1500	419	29.8
03-22	1219.6	1219.6	19.9	1407	1400	3276	1629	2100	722	29.4
03-21	1218.1	1218.1	18.5	1422	1400	5169	1532	3560	1090	30.1
03-20	1214.9	1214.9	15.5	1402	1400	3950	1369	2830	872	29.7
03-19	1212.6	1212.6	13	1402	810	3528	1248	2230	742	29.9
03-18	1210.6	1210.6	11.3	1704	810	5505	1144	3240	1190	29.4
03-17	1206.7	1206.7	7.6	1968	810	8285	973	6140	1510	30.7
03-16	1199.3	1199.3	0.2	1872	870	3225	709	2640	880	27.6
03-15	1197.6	1197.5	-1.5	1856	870	920	614	1060	489	31.2
03-14	1198.8	1198.8	0	1329	870	961	597	776	369	29.7
03-13	1199.4	1199.4	0.7	1280	870	925	574	840	380	29.6
03-12	1199.8	1199.9	1.3	1067	750	822	553	916	446	30.9
03-11	1200.2	1200.2	1.5	919	750	711	536	729	328	29.5
03-10	1200.5	1200.5	1.8	819	750	1016	522	797	315	31.4
03-09	1200.3	1200.3	1.6	731	750	1211	498	941	391	28.1
03-08	1199.7	1199.7	1.1	757	750	1618	465	1210	497	30.9
03-07	1198.6	1198.6	-0.1	761	750	1893	426	N/A	593	29.4
03-06	1197.1	1197.1	-1.4	758	750	798	374	N/A	N/A	29.3
03-05	1197.1	1197.1	-1.4	716	740	368	358	-999999	-999999	29.7
03-04	1197.6	1197.6	-1.2	729	740	394	356	-999999	-999999	29.7
03-03	1198.1	1198.1	-1	647	740	561	352	-999999	-999999	31.7
03-02	1198.2	1198.2	-1.2	468	750	527	339	-999999	-999999	30.6
03-01	1198.2	1198.2	-1.4	469	750	564	329	-999999	-999999	30
02-28	1198.1	1198.1	-1.7	467	750	494	320	-999999	-999999	30.9
02-27	1198.1	1198	-1.8	464	750	452	314	-999999	-999999	28.7
02-26	1198.1	1198.1	-2	474	770	371	310	-999999	-999999	31.6
02-25	1198.3	1198.3	-2.1	441	770	265	306	-999999	-999999	31.6
02-24	1198.6	1198.6	-2	421	770	243	307	-999999	-999999	30
02-23	1198.8	1198.8	-1.9	429	770	194	309	-999999	-999999	28.9
02-22	1199.2	1199.2	-1.6	446	770	283	312	-999999	-999999	28.9
02-21	1199.4	1199.5	-1.6	459	770	351	312	-999999	-999999	28.9
02-20	1199.6	1199.6	-1.9	466	770	358	310	-999999	-999999	29.8
02-19	1199.8	1199.8	-2	470	760	285	307	-999999	-999999	29.9
02-18	1200	1200	-2	470	760	341	307	-999999	-999999	28
02-17	1200.2	1200.2	-1.9	464	760	392	307	-999999	-999999	29.5
02-16	1200.3	1200.3	-2.1	458	750	386	307	-999999	-999999	27.8
02-15	1200.5	1200.4	-2.3	561	750	362	306	-999999	-999999	29.3
02-14	1200.7	1200.7	-2.4	472	750	379	304	-999999	-999999	27.5
02-13	1200.8	1200.8	-2.7	410	750	414	302	-999999	-999999	31.9
02-12	1200.8	1200.8	-3	306	730	252	303	-999999	-999999	29.1
02-11	1200.9	1200.9	-3.3	308	730	293	309	-999999	-999999	29.6
02-10	1201	1201	-3.6	308	730	313	314	-999999	-999999	33.6
02-09	1201	1201	-4	307	730	292	319	-999999	-999999	28.6
02-08	1201	1201	-4.4	307	730	311	326	-999999	-999999	31.3
02-07	1201.1	1201.1	-4.7	306	730	211	332	-999999	-999999	29.3
02-06	1201.2	1201.2	-4.9	516	730	461	345	-999999	-999999	30.8
02-05	1201.3	1201.3	-5.2	307	730	311	350	-999999	-999999	31.2
02-04	1201.3	1201.3	-5.4	308	730	312	369	-999999	-999999	31.2
02-03	1201.4	1201.4	-5.5	304	730	308	391	-999999	-999999	31.6
02-02	1201.4	1201.4	-5.7	301	760	285	412	-999999	-999999	28.4
02-01	1201.4	1201.4	-6	306	760	170	447	-999999	-999999	30.6
01-31	1201.6	1201.7	-5.9	683	760	222	506	-999999	-999999	30.4
01-30	1202.2	1202.2	-5.6	762	760	293	574	-999999	-999999	30.4
01-29	1202.8	1202.8	-5.3	797	800	320	669	-999999	-999999	30
01-28	1203.4	1203.4	-4.9	796	800	332	707	-999999	-999999	28.1
01-27	1204	1204	-4.4	802	800	244	713	-999999	-999999	31.4
01-26	1204.6	1204.6	-3.9	811	830	309	718	-999999	-999999	31.4
01-25	1205.2	1205.2	-3.4	822	830	312	722	-999999	-999999	28.7
01-24	1205.8	1205.8	-2.9	829	830	266	721	-999999	-999999	31.9
01-23	1206.4	1206.4	-2.2	869	830	296	728	-999999	-999999	29.4
01-22	1207.1	1207.1	-1.5	854	870	274	733	-999999	-999999	32
01-21	1207.7	1207.7	-1.2	860	870	269	736	-999999	-999999	30.2
01-20	1208.3	1208.3	-0.8	940	870	288	743	-999999	-999999	31.1
01-19	1208.9	1208.9	-0.4	904	900	344	770	-999999	-999999	31.4
01-18	1209.5	1209.5	0.1	900	900	406	804	-999999	-999999	29.9
01-17	1210	1210	0.3	933	900	332	846	-999999	-999999	29.4
01-16	1210.6	1210.6	0.8	911	900	328	921	-999999	-999999	31.7
01-15	1211.2	1211.2	1.1	917	920	300	969	-999999	-999999	30
01-14	1211.8	1211.8	1.4	922	920	452	992	-999999	-999999	30
01-13	1212.3	1212.3	1.6	924	920	423	1007	-999999	-999999	31
01-12	1212.8	1212.8	1.9	936	940	457	1038	-999999	-999999	31.1
01-11	1213.2	1213.2	2	940	940	455	1113	-999999	-999999	29.4
01-10	1213.7	1213.7	2.2	940	940	504	1279	-999999	-999999	31.3
01-09	1214.1	1214.1	2.4	940	940	501	1363	-999999	-999999	32.3
01-08	1214.5	1214.5	2.6	937	930	576	1368	-999999	-999999	30.1
01-07	1214.9	1214.9	2.9	934	930	625	1364	-999999	-999999	31.2
01-06	1215.2	1215.1	2.9	930	930	870	1356	-999999	-999999	31.5
01-05	1215.2	1215.3	3	940	850	991	1339	-999999	-999999	30.4
01-04	1215.2	1215.2	2.9	857	850	935	1320	-999999	-999999	30.4
01-03	1215.2	1215.1	2.8	858	850	1322	1303	N/A	-999999	31.3
01-02	1214.8	1214.7	2.4	857	850	1940	1271	N/A	439	29
01-01	1213.8	1213.8	1.5	895	840	2272	1223	1460	504	31.1

¹ The Elevation Trigger is invoked when Hinckley Reservoir elevation falls below the 10% historical low level. The elevation trigger is 1222 feet in May, 1198 feet October 15 to December 31 and linearly interpolated from 1222 feet on May 31 and 1198 feet on October 15.

² "Normal" Hinckley Reservoir elevations for a given date are based upon the average of 59 years of daily Hinckley Reservoir elevation data (1942-1979 and 1987-2007).

³ cfs is the abbreviation for cubic feet per second.

⁴ The 1920 Operating Diagram establishes the rate of release of water from Hinckley Reservoir based upon varying reservoir levels throughout the year.

⁵ The Inflow Trigger is invoked when the 30-day running average Hinckley Reservoir inflow is below 300 cfs.

⁶ The Wilmurt plus Black Creek streamflow represents 80% of the Hinckley watershed area.

Hinckley Reservoir Watershed Map

Hinckley Reservoir Watershed

OSWEGO RIVER BASIN

The Oswego River Basin is located in Central New York. It encompasses the Erie Canal from Macedon to Rome and the Cayuga-Seneca and Oswego Canals. It drains a total area of 5,122 square miles into Lake Ontario. The area of the basin is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

The Canal Corporation's Syracuse Division Canal Office is responsible for maintaining water levels of the Canal System within the Oswego River Basin for navigational purposes.

Current Oswego Basin Levels

Oswego Basin Rule Curves

Minimizing Flood Damage

Lake-level regulation efforts are aimed at minimizing flood damage within the entire Oswego River Basin. Typically, following the navigation season, the system's water levels are lowered to provide storage for spring snowmelt and storm runoff. Prior to navigation season, water levels are raised gradually to predetermined safe levels for summer use. In the summer, levels are regulated to provide reserve capacity sufficient to contain moderate runoff. Seasonal lake levels and other important factors such as maximum and minimum navigation levels are indicated on graphs called "rule curves" that depict ideal levels for each lake.

High Water Levels - Flood
- Water Supply for all uses
- Drinking water
- Sewage plants
- Critical Habitat
- Navigation
- Irrigation
Low Water Levels - Flood Mitigation
No Water
- No Drinking Water
- No Navigation
- Severe Damage to Critical Habitat

Rule curves are the historical compromise for water level management that have been established to balance competing interests for target water levels. The rule curve process starts by establishing the top and bottom of the curves (highest tolerable level, lowest tolerable level) to avoid at all costs severe flooding or severe drought conditions. Within that range, navigation levels and municipal water supply are given the highest priorities to ensure a stable, reliable water supply throughout low water summer months. Critical habitat concerns also drive target levels toward the high side of the range to ensure against damage to delicate natural resources.

In order to avoid floods, demand for high levels must be balanced against the effects on property owners. Typically, floods are brought on by:

Rapid spring snowmelt/runoff
Heavy spring rains/heavy runoff
Heavy fall rains before the winter freeze.

To deal with these acts of nature, water levels are raised/lowered within tolerable limits by season.

FALL – At the close of the navigation season, water levels are drawn down for storage capacity anticipating spring runoff.
WINTER – The lowest water level on the system can be achieved mindful of water supply needs.
SPRING – Storage capacity is maintained as long as possible to accept heavy runoffs, but gradual system increases must be undertaken to ensure target levels are reached for summer low water condition needs.
SUMMER – Competing needs must be balanced with the available water supply.

Water Levels

Hinckley Reservoir