Did You Notice How Low the Lake Level Is?

By Charlie Tarbell

Yes, indeed, the lake level is as low as I’ve ever seen it (except for certain purposeful drawdowns, such as for dam repair). And, no, we are not happy with the situation. Here’s some background.

Recall springtime 2025 and rain every Saturday for 13 consecutive Saturdays? So much water. The dam gate was wide open and the “failsafe” spillway was roaring over a foot deep. We had people unable to set their docks on Memorial Day due to the high water level. Indeed, those docks that you see today at three feet or more above the water surface were set in those liquid days of spring.

Then it stopped raining. We let the water return to “normal” summer level and then closed the dam. It has been shut tight for well over a month. And it seems as if it has never rained since. Yeah, we had a couple of short storms, but the duff absorbed the water and the streams barely saw an increase in volume. The lake just has not received any beneficial rain in a long, long time.

Maybe you are thinking: “Why didn’t you (idiots) just set the level at “normal” spring levels – you know – higher. Then you would have had a greater volume of water in the lake to endure a sustained drought.” Well, our recent experience is that Waterford receives summer storms that drop as much as two inches of rain at least twice a summer. We try to protect the delicate and erodible banking of the lake by keeping the lake at summer levels that will allow the lake to accommodate a two-inch storm (recall that 1 inch of rain = 6 inches of lake level rise). Murphy’s Law = No rain.

We, the intrepid dam managers (and professional weather forecasters) would welcome any meaningful help we can get with this responsibility. Please contact Brenda if you would like to volunteer.

See you on the lake in the mud.

Link here to the newsletter article on dam operation from a couple of years ago.