The low water levels on Weiss Lake are slowly starting to rise, Alabama Power officials said Monday.

A particularly dry summer and winter have left the water lower than it usually is during the winter months, said Thomas Miller, who is in charge of the power company’s Shoreline Management Office in Cherokee County.

“It was a real dry year,” Miller said.

Gary Williams, a hydro journeyman at Weiss Dam, said the power company gradually started increasing water levels in January. The increase will continue through May, he said.

“We don’t have excess water,” Williams said.

Marine Officer Rick Sides said the increase in water already has made a difference in some parts of the lake.

Sides said Sunday he can now navigate in places that he couldn’t a few days ago. Just a few inches make a big difference in traveling on the lake, he said

We're below normal levels for rain," Miller said, which has left some parts of the lake high and dry during the winter.

Miller said the gradual increases will continue to make parts of the lake more navigatable and, with any luck, Cherokee County will get more rain this year than it did last year