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Lake Cumberland Rises to Old Summer Level

Heavy rainfall in southern Kentucky this week has pushed Lake Cumberland's water level to its full summer point for the first time in eight years.

For decades, lake visitors were used to seeing the water at 723 feet above sea level. But an emergency drawdown in early 2007 to repair Wolf Creek Dam dropped the level to 680 feet, and it stayed there for years.

The Lexington Herald-Leadersays the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on Thursday that the lake level had reached 724 feet.

The Corps of Engineers dropped the water level seven years ago after deciding that leaks under the earthen portion of the Wolf Creek Dam created a high risk it would fail. The agency oversaw installation of a concrete wall to seal off leaks.