The water levels in Lake Decatur are fully recovered. The City Manager’s office announced this afternoon that the steady increase in the levels of the lake have reached about a foot higher than normal winter stages.  The Sangamon River continues to oversupply the lake, and the dam will need to be opened to release excess water for the first time since July.

"Lake level management is an inexact science in that it's hard to predict the actions of Mother Nature," City Manager Ryan McCrady says. "It might be difficult to understand going from water restrictions due to low lake level to actually releasing water in the course of only two months, but to not do so could lead to significant flooding."

The low point in the drought  came on November 26, when the lake was only about 54 percent full. The current levels are around 86 percent, with the excess space being used for winter snow melt and spring run-off.