Until now the lakes had been 10-11 feet below full pool. On Sep 11 there was a large rainfall that brought the lakes up about 2.5 feet.  By Monday, September 12 (the same night as the Plaza flood), the Lakewood area received almost 16 inches of rain in a four-hour period.  The lakes not only were full, but were close to 3 feet above full pool. Lakewood has a 6 mile watershed area, which keeps the lake naturally full in perpetuity.