glossary of terms
- Conservation Capacity
- The capacity of a reservoir's conservation pool; if the reservoir is shared with another state or country then conservation capacity refers only to the portion that belongs to Texas.
- Conservation Pool
- Conservation pool refers to water in a reservoir that lies above the dead pool and below the flood pool. When a reservoir's conservation pool is full, the reservoir is considered full.
- Conservation Storage
- The amount of water present within a reservoir's conservation pool; if the reservoir is shared with another state or country then conservation storage refers only to the portion that belongs to Texas.
- Dead Pool
- Dead pool refers to water in a reservoir that cannot be drained by gravity through a dam's outlet works. Water that is in the dead pool is not considered part of conservation pool.
- Elevation-Area-Capacity Table
- A table that relates water surface elevations with volumes and surface areas for a reservoir. These relationships are obtained from either from original design documents or from a hydrographic survey of the reservoir. A single reservoir may have multiple tables that reflect changes in reservoir conditions due to processes like sedimentation.
- Flood Pool
- Flood pool refers to water that lies above the conservation pool. A reservoir's flood pool is used to regulate floodwaters. Some reservoirs have seasonally-varying flood pools.
- Height Above Conservation Pool
- The vertical distance between a reservoir's water surface elevation and the top of the conservation pool. Negative numbers indicate how far below 'full' the reservoir is, while positive numbers indicate how far into the flood pool the reservoir is.
- Percent Full
- The ratio of conservation storage to conservation capacity expressed as a percentage.
- Reservoir Capacity
- The total amount of water that a reservoir can safely hold. It is the sum of dead pool, conservation pool and flood pool.
- Reservoir Storage
- The amount of water present in a reservoir.
- Sediment Reserve
- Part of reservoir capacity that is allocated for storage of sediment that is expected to be deposited over a certain period of time. Sediment reserve and dead pool storage are not mutually exclusive.
- Surface Area
- The area of the top surface of a reservoir's body of water.
- Water Surface Elevation
- The elevation of the top surface of a reservoir's body of water.