{"id":687544,"date":"2026-06-06T07:36:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T07:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687544\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T07:36:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T07:36:28","slug":"water-shortage-alert-issued-at-smith-mountain-lake-as-levels-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/687544\/","title":{"rendered":"Water shortage alert issued at Smith Mountain Lake as levels drop"},"content":{"rendered":"

SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, Va. (WSET) \u2014 A water shortage alert is in effect at Smith Mountain Lake due to low water levels. Bedford Water is now asking customers to cut back on everyday water use.<\/p>\n

The low lake levels at Smith Mountain Lake are hard to miss. While recent rain has brought some relief, Bedford Water is still counting on customers to conserve \u2013 especially during drought conditions.<\/p>\n

It may not be something you think about every day, but officials say everyday habits can add up, whether it’s running the dishwasher, doing laundry or watering plants.<\/p>\n

Bedford Water says cutting back on water use now could go a long way toward helping lake levels recover.<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: Lynchburg-area gas prices drop, but expert says they will remain volatile through summer<\/a><\/p>\n

Kyle Draper, communications manager with Bedford Water, said they’re aiming for a 5 to 10 percent reduction in overall consumption. “When you think about, we’re down 5 feet right now across the lake,” said Draper.<\/p>\n

And for people who live along Smith Mountain Lake, those five feet make a big difference.<\/p>\n

Homeowner Russ Miller said he has never seen the lake levels this low for such an extended period of time.<\/p>\n

For nearly 20 years, he has watched the water levels at Smith Mountain Lake, but said this year’s conditions have forced him to make changes he never expected.<\/p>\n

“There’s not enough water underneath to float the boat. Hence the requirement to buy a low lake level boat,” said Russ.<\/p>\n

He has also extended the steps on his floating dock to make it more accessible.<\/p>\n

“In the peak summertime period, this floating dock is literally right up here next to the fixed dock,” Russ said.<\/p>\n

Russ is waiting for higher water levels in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n

Bedford Water said they are preparing for the possibility of a dry summer, and they want to get ahead of worsening conditions.<\/p>\n

“We’re also hearing this could be a dry summer as well, so we want to be proactive and try to get ahead of it so it doesn’t get into dire situations,” said Draper.<\/p>\n

Every gallon saved helps protect the region’s water supply and could help prevent tougher restrictions later this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, Va. (WSET) \u2014 A water shortage alert is in effect at Smith Mountain Lake due…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-687544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}