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FERRIDAY, La. — With the water already a foot above normal levels on Lake St. John on Saturday, more than 10 inches of rainfall was the last thing the lake needed this weekend, said Milton Rawles, a Lake St. John resident.

But that is what happened over Memorial Day weekend, causing the surface of many piers to go underwater. Rawles said the water level as of Wednesday afternoon was at 28 inches above normal or “pool” level.

“I’m hoping that it has crested there and will start to go back down,” Rawles said. “It has gone up 21 inches since Saturday.”

Rawles regularly and voluntarily keeps close watch of the water levels to keep “the weekenders” informed of potential dangers to their property. The last time he could recall the lake being as high was 2011, when it reached 34 inches above normal level, he said.

“I’ve never seen it get that high,” said Donna Meason Ball, another person with a house on Lake St. John. “I have seen lower piers go underwater, but I’ve never seen it go across the top of my pier.”

Timothy Vanier, Director of the Concordia Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said “no wake” rules are put in place at 15 inches above pool level.

No wake zones are in effect until further notice for all of Lake Concordia and Lake St. John. Though Lake Concordia is high, it has not risen as high as Lake St. John, Vanier said.

Waves from boating can damage property, pose life-threatening risks and exacerbate flooding and damage, he said.

“At this level, there are dangers that could be life-threatening if you’re not careful — underwater structures you can’t see because the water is high,” Vanier said. “Then the waves can cause damage to critical infrastructure like wells, wash away property and damage property like piers. Also, a lot of debris washes off into the water when it’s high, like trees and branches. You can swim and you can use a boat, but only travel at idle speed.”

Vanier said he expects the water level to stay level for a couple of days and then start to recede going into the weekend.

Lake Saint John only has one drain and that is at Buckner Bayou, Vanier said.

On Monday, water was draining into Lake St. John when a no wake recommendation was first issued. The water started to slowly drain back into Buckner Bayou from Lake St. John on Tuesday, he said.

The Lake Board agreed to open the three weir gates at that point so that the water could continue to drain into Buckner Bayou. “However, there is more water draining into the lake than Buckner Bayou can accept at this time,” he said, meaning the water level had yet to drop any on Wednesday evening, although it is draining.

“The gates have been open for the last two days to drain the water down, but there has been just a lot of rainfall and a lot of water draining off and the ground was already saturated before we got all this rain last weekend,” Vanier said.