COURTESY: PEARL RIVER WATER VALLEY SUPPLY DISTRICT -The National Weather Service Friday lowered its projected crest on the Pearl River at Jackson to 35 feet on Saturday evening, and Barnett Reservoir officials said they will continue storing water in the rising 33,000-acre lake.

In Friday morning’s conference call, the NWS’s Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center and the U.S. Army Corps lowered its peak inflow into the reservoir to 55,000 cubic feet per second, and gauges above the reservoir indicated the Pearl had crested at most locations. The lake will continue to rise through the weekend as officials hold more water than is released through the dam.

The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, the state agency that oversees Barnett Reservoir, said the lake was at 297.38 feet above sea level at 9:30 a.m.

Friday. The week began with a level of 295.2.

PRVWSD said Friday that it would close the east side access to the Spillway Recreation Area immediately.