Yearly Archives: 2013

16 March 2013: Ruminations on a Water Level Regime

The rapid rise of the water level of Clary Lake from -54″ below the top of the dam to -38″, a rise of over 16″ in just 3 days from only 3/4″ of rain and a little snow melt perfectly illustrates why Paul Kelley’s plan to “manage” the lake’s water level is both ill-conceived and fatally flawed. Kelley would like to maintain the lake at a low enough level so he can capture any conceivable amount of rain and runoff without it over-topping the dam. He could then release the water at a rate that wouldn’t overload the ability of the mill pond on the west side of the road to handle the discharge. According to Kelley, the mill pond can only pass 55 cubic feet per second of flow from Clary Lake without flooding his building and causing damage to the foundation. Kelley is currently doubly confounded because of the hole in the dam: he’s not just trying to keep the lake from over-topping the dam, he’s trying to keep it from getting within 3 feet of it. The water is already within inches of reaching the hole. He’s playing a very dangerous game.

If Kelley really wants to protect his mill building from high water damage, perhaps he should follow the advice in his own bought-and-paid-for URS engineering report and re-install the original overflow weir in the lower mill pond and not try to manage the outflow from Clary Lake over which he has no real control.

Clearly, if the lake can rise 16″ from what can only be characterized as a very small spring rain storm with a minimal snow pack, how much could it rise from a large spring rain storm when there’s a deep snow pack with saturated ground? We may get a chance to find out sooner rather than later: predictions for this coming Tuesday are for a wet spring snow storm and depending on which model you use could drop 15″ of heavy snow on us (the European model) or 4″-8″ of mixed snow, sleet, and freezing rain (GFS, or Global Forecast System model). The difference between the models is one of temperature; the European model forecasts a colder storm with snow throughout the region whereas the GFS model forecasts a warmer storm with snow inland and more rain and sleet towards the coast.

14 March 2013: Whitefield Town Meeting This Coming Saturday

The Whitefield Town Meeting is this coming Saturday the 16th of March to be held at the Whitefield School. Polls open at 8 am and close at 12 noon so if you’re a Whitefield resident and you want to vote, plan accordingly.

Our own Association member Sue McKeen told me the other day that she’s running for the Whitefield Planning Board as a write-in candidate. Sue has been on the planning board in the past which of course begs the question why on earth she wants to be on the PB again. I can only assume she feels there is work left to be done. I’ll be voting for her.

13 March 2013: Spring Rain, Canceling Newsletter Plans

The Winter 2013 edition of the Clary Lake Clarion Cancelled

I’ve always been a firm believer in the value of a hard-copy newsletter and 2 issues a year if at all possible, but no surprise, I’m canceling plans for the Winter 2013 edition mainly because it’s already spring and I’ve got more than enough on my plate to keep me busy without trying to crank out a newsletter too. Besides, this web site is doing a pretty good job of keeping people informed and in touch. We’ll send out a newsletter this June with a notice about the annual meeting, a dues notice and membership subscription form, and what have you.

Spring Rains Bring Welcome Lake Level Rise

Yesterday’s 0.78″ of rain combined with snow melt was enough to bring the lake up over 9″ so far (see today’s water level chart) and I expect it will rise a few more inches over the next 24 hours. Colder weather later this week will likely slow down the rate of runoff for a while. As nice as it is to see the lake come up, we should be prepared for exceptionally low water conditions this spring and into summer. This should not come as a surprise to anyone: the dam’s gate is still wide open and there is no significant snow pack left. This situation no doubt suits Kelley who wants to keep the lake from rising to the level of the breach in the dam. For what it’s worth, we’re now at that peculiar lake level where additional runoff causes the lake to mostly spread out over the shallow water areas, increasing the surface area without significantly raising the lake level so the lake is in a position to absorb considerable runoff for a while without rising that much. If you recall last year’s water level chart you’ll remember the large rain events we had in late April and again in very early June which brought the lake up to -19″ below the top of the dam- the highest it got last year. I might add that such water level fluctuation turned out to be disastrous for nesting water fowl, including the loons. I wonder what this season will bring?

09 March 2013: Comet Panstarrs to put on a March show

There’s a comet in the early evening sky these days, Comet Panstarrs. It should be a binocular object. I’m going up to  Highland Cemetery this evening about sunset (5:30 pm) to see if I can spot it. The following NASA web site page has information about the comet, as well as a finder chart. You’ll need to find a location with a low western horizon because it’s faint and pretty close to the sun.

Comet Panstarrs

07 March 2013: Lincoln County News Article

An article by Shlomit Auciello is in this week’s Lincoln County News. Here’s a link to the online version:

Regulator Denies Motion To Dismiss Clary Lake Dam Petition

It’s a good article, all things considered- certainly more fair and balanced than a few previous articles by Ms. Auciello. It appears she contacted Tony Buxton for comment though she made no attempt to contact me.

I’ve downloaded a copy in PDF format and posted in the Newspaper Clippings directory:

PDF version of 06 March 2013 LCN article

04 March 2013: Department of Environmental Protection Procedural Order #5

The wait is over! Beth Callahan has sent around Procedural Order #5 and an Updated Service List. I haven’t finished reading the Order but I wanted to get it posted ASAP. I’ll update this post and the Petition News page shortly.

Update: Pleasant Pond Mill’s motion to dismiss the petition was denied on all grounds. This doesn’t come as a surprise as I have been saying all along that the allegations in the motion to dismiss were outrageous and unfounded, but still it is a relief to see the decision in writing. As a stalling tactic it was first class but I dare say it did not have the intended effect. It would also appear that Mr. Buxton’s reputation with the Department has been somewhat sullied as a result of some unfortunate and unsavory interactions he had with DEP staff over this. Too bad. Going forward that will not help their case.

DEP has yet to rule on my motion to supplement the record with additional information. They will do that with another Procedural Order in the near future and I fully expect that motion to be GRANTED and if it is not, I’m sure they’ll have a VERY GOOD REASON.

What’s next? Well the results of the September 21st Bathymetric Survey performed by the department will be made available to all parties on April 3rd and by this I take it they mean both the survey itself as well as a revised minimum flows recommendation and contour report. This will be followed by a comment and question period. There was no mention of when the Findings of Fact will be requested.

04 March 2013: KJ Article in Today’s Paper

The long-awaited article by Paul Koenig, reporter for the Kennebec Journal is in today’s paper and it’s also available online at this address:

Accusations, legal briefs fly in battle over future of Clary Lake dam

There’s an opportunity to comment at the end of the article. Please do! I’ll offer my own review and comment later today.

Update: The article has also appeared in the Morning Sentinel, but without pictures:

Gloom prevalent tone on Clary Lake future

Can’t say as I like the title much. Gloom may be what Paul Kelley is feeling about now, but I’m quite elated 🙂

I’ve posted a PDF copy of the article.

01 March 2013: Server/Site Maintenance

I’ll be taking the site down later this evening for some routine server and site maintenance. Chances are it won’t be off line more than 15 minutes and more than likely nobody will even notice but still, I wanted to give everyone a heads up. If you stop by and the site hangs or won’t come up, just wait a little while.

UPDATE: I’m done with the maintenance. If anyone finds anything broken on the site, please let me know.

28 February 2013: Water Level Measurements, Pictures, Server Issues

I’ve updated the Water level Chart for the first time in a week, and seeing as how it’s the end of the month, I’ve posted the February 2013 Water Level Chart which shows that the lake level stayed within a tight range the entire month, fluctuating only about ±1.5″ and ending the month just 1/2″ lower than it started. We received a total of 1.82″ of precipitation for the month.

Boy I’m ready for spring. I managed to crack a rib last weekend so I pretty much gave up on shoveling snow and chopping a hole in the ice to check the water level but when I checked today, there was actually some open water right along the shore so I was able to get an accurate measurement with no shoveling and no chopping.

I haven’t yet had a chance to scan the pictures that Jane Chase gave me last week, but I’ll get a round tuit as soon as I can- perhaps this weekend. I also still plan to put together a gallery of pictures Colin Caissie took during a cross country ski jaunt down the channel to the dam. I’ve spent most of my copious spare time recently working on the server that hosts this (and other) web sites. Some of you may have noticed the site either being slow to respond or not responding at all for a while. This resulted partly from a miss-allocation of resources and partly due to a lack of routine maintenance. These issues have been rectified so you shouldn’t see any more problems.

26 February 2013: DEP Decision and KJ Article Pending!

Senator Chris Johnson called me today to let me know he was told that the Department has drafted a decision on the motion to dismiss and that it is currently under review, presumably by folks in the Attorney General’s office.  I say presumably because Chris didn’t give me any details about whom he spoke to or what they told him. Obviously, he couldn’t tell me how long it will be before we hear something either. I’d like to think it will be sooner rather than later but having waited this long, I’m content to wait a little longer. It is good to know that the long wait is finally almost over.

At this point I’d rather not speculate further on what to expect, but assuming the DEP has decided NOT to dismiss the petition then processing of the petition will resume where it left off. This would include ruling on my motion to supplement the record with additional information, and setting a deadline for submission of our findings of fact.

I also spoke with Paul Koenig of the Kennebec Journal today- it looks like he will be writing an article that may appear in the KJ as early as this coming weekend. He said he’d let me know if/when he knew more, so stay tuned.

21 February 2013: Resumed Water Level Measurements, Etc.

With the warming trend and melting snow of late, I resumed making water level measurements  yesterday but with the snow storm due in this weekend I suspect I’ll knock off again for a while. I had to remind myself the other day why I’m making water level measurements: primarily I am interested in modeling the complex hydrological system that is Clary lake.  With its variable inflows from runoff and ground water and variable outflows depending on the status of the dam’s gate, how the lake rises and falls at any given time is anything but obvious.  There’s a lot to ponder and a lot to learn.

More pictures

Jane Chase has given me some more pictures that I will scan and add to the Chase Family Archive when I get a chance. Also, Colin Caissie has given me a CD full of photographs he Colin Caissie cross country skiingtook last week while cross country skiing down the channel to the dam. He is particularly concerned about the impact that ice flows are having on the shoreline: as result of the historically low water levels, ice flows are  plowing up soil,  sediments, and sensitive wetland vegetation around the lake. This has already resulted in erosion and sedimentation of the waters of Clary lake as well as the Sheepscot river, a serious condition that will accelerate this spring when ice and snow melts and outflows increase. If you will recall, I expressed similar concerns in a recent post with accompanying photographs in the Winter 2013 album. I’ll post some of Colin’s pictures soon.

18 February 2013: Suspending Water Level Measurements

I’m suspending water level measurements for a while- I went down to the lake this afternoon and just didn’t have it in me to dig through 3′ drifts of snow for 40′ to get out to where the water is. I’ll resume when it warms up a little and some snow melts. At last measure 2 days ago, the lake was down to 145.94′ or -56.40″ below the top of the dam.

Still no word from the DEP on a decision. It’s been 14 days since Senator Chris Johnson talked to Jerry Reid at the District Attorney’s office. It was suggested at that time that if we might hear something “in a couple of weeks.” I’ll look into getting an update later this week if we haven’t heard anything.

09 February 2013 Blizzard

Hope everyone is faring OK in this blizzard, it’s about as bad out there as I can remember- white out conditions, wind chill somewhere around -20° and 3′ drifts in the road.  For contrast, there’s no snow in my yard or on my deck- it’s blown clean. I managed to get my cars started and moved after my neighbor blew a hole in my drifted-in driveway. The advice from a Maine Emergency Management Agency spokesperson on Channel 6 this  morning: “Stay at home, hunker down, and hope for the best.” 🙂

3' drifts in my driveway made it a little hard getting my car out.

3′ drifts in my driveway made it a little hard getting my car out.

08 February 2013: Snow storm, a few new pictures.

From the way the  main stream media is hyping this storm, you’d think we’d never seen a big  snow storm before. That said it does sound like the biggest snow storm we’ve seen in some years.  The NOAA Graphical Weather site gives a pretty good picture of what to expect late this afternoon and tonight: blizzard conditions, high winds, and snow. Lots of snow. Stay safe.

I accompanied David Hodsdon on a jaunt up into the (DRAINED) meadow at the northwest
end of Clary lake yesterday afternoon to check it out and take some pictures. I took pictures of David as he used his Gigapan Robotic Camera Platform to take pictures of the meadow. The Gigapan is designed to take multiple images with a regular digital camera which are then combined into a panorama. It was neat to watch as it panned around the horizon snapping pictures without intervention. The camera is a Nikon D7000 digital camera and a wide angle lens (want one). The wide angle lens resulted in a 360° panorama only 1200 x 240 pixels (mine is more than twice that size). The other one he sent me I’ve cropped slightly and added it to the random pool of pictures used as  site banners.  Both have been added to the Winter 2013 album.

In other news… the lake level has again fallen to -60″ below the top of the dam. I’m not entirely happy with the page layout of the Water Level Chart, the chart is really too small when constrained to fit in the primary column. So when I get a chance I’ll dig into the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets, supposed to make web page design simpler?) and design a better looking page.

Proposed Legislation to Ban All Soft Bait in the State of Maine

Jack Holland brought this matter to my attention. On January 17, state Representative Paul Davis introduced H.P. 37/L.D.42, legislation that would prohibit the use of all “rubber” lures. The legislation seeks to ban “rubber” baits but does not define the term. Even so, the intent of the legislation is clear – to ban the soft baits that Maine anglers use every day.

To add your voice to the growing list of people opposing this legislation, point your browser to http://keepamericafishing.salsalabs.com and fill out their form with your name, address, and email address and click send. Easy. I did it.

Keep America Fishing is recommending that rather than simply passing knee-jerk legislation to regulate something that may not even be a problem, that a real study be conducted to determine if there really is a problem with soft, so-called “rubber” bait.

04 February 2013: Petition Update, Possible Decision Pending

I just got off the phone with Senator Chris Johnson who had just spoken with Jerry Reid, head of the Natural Resources Division of the office of the Attorney General- the division that typically provides legal services to the Department of Environmental Protection. Chris called to tell me that according to Mr. Reed, the office of the Attorney General has not been and is not at this time engaged in reviewing issues surrounding the Clary Lake water level petition or the motion to dismiss it. He did say that he understands that a decision by the DEP is pending, possibly within the next couple of weeks and he expects his Division will be asked to review it. He also told Senator Johnson that his Division would get right on it and he  encouraged the Senator to get back in touch with him if we have not heard anything from the Department in a couple of weeks. Chris said he would.

If you recall, Senator Johnson spoke at the public hearing last August, questioning Paul Kelley several times on his testimony. I have spoken with Chris several times over the past couple of months about this delay in processing the petition and he’s been concerned and responsive. I am extremely grateful for his attention to this. Stay tuned!

03 February 2013: 300 acres of drained wetland

I went for a walk in the meadow this afternoon, to the confluence of Clark’s Meadow Brook with the stream flowing out of Clary lake, to see what I could see, and
even though I pretty much knew what to expect, it was still a shock to see what was once a viable productive wetland drained, exposed, violated. The magnitude of the ongoing environmental disaster that Paul Kelley has visited on Clary Lake is criminal. It is hard to believe that he cannot be held liable for damage to the environment as a result of the way he chooses to manage the water level of Clary lake. We all know what would happen to any one of us if we went to drain even a small wetland on our property or cause erosion or sedimentation of State waters through our action or inattention, and yet this man can actively destroy 300 acres of wetland and wildlife habitat with apparent impunity.

There is plenty of evidence of erosion where rain and melt water has pooled and run off into the main stream, cutting deep channels through the soft mud and exposing the roots of wetland plants. This soil erosion has no doubt caused significant sedimentation of the outlet stream and below the dam, the Sheepscot River itself.  There are also large areas where water has pooled temporarily and in so doing has deposited a thin layer of sediment on the ground. This sediment will also wash into the outlet stream with the next rain causing further sedimentation of areas down stream. There are some more pictures of this in the Winter 2013 album.

I saw no wildlife save for a bald eagle that flew by, checking me out before heading into the trees over on the Floge property. I did see one abandoned muskrat house- I expected to see more but it appears they were driven from their regular habitat by low water last fall before they could build any lodges. It’s a hard winter on the furbearers.

I also took a series of 10 pictures and then stitched them together into a 360° panorama which is stunning if I do say so myself. The pictures were taken right at the confluence of Clark’s Meadow Brook and the main channel coming out of Clary lake. I scaled it down considerably from it’s original (huge) size and it’s still big- almost 2 megabytes. Hope you enjoy it.

There are other pictures in the Winter 2013 album. As usual, your comments are welcome. Many thanks (again) to Jane Chase for providing access.

31 January 2013: Welcome to New Users Post!

A nice feature of this new site is that it allows for people to register for accounts and to make comments. For the past year, while the old site served it’s purpose, it felt a lot like me bloviating into the void with no input or feedback from anyone. While the primary purpose of the site is to disseminate information, it’s also a community initiative which doesn’t mean me talking endlessly into the void to an unseen and largely, unheard viewership. I’ve exchanged email with a lot of you over the past year and I know you have a lot to say.

No, you don’t need to be an Association member to sign up for an account or to participate by commenting. Registration on the site is open to everyone.

Welcome to our new members!

30 January 2013: Interviewed by the KJ

I’ve had several long phone conversations recently with a reporter from the Kennebec Journal who is doing research for a story on the Clary Lake water level petition. He also has met with Paul Kelley to get his side of the story, and has talked with Beth Callahan about what is holding things up. Beth told him that both the DEP and the Attorney General were reviewing the situation- the first statement from the DEP that this matter is being reviewed by anyone other than Heather Parent, the Presiding Officer; we pretty much surmised this because DEP doesn’t have their own legal department and when they need legal heavy lifting, they tap the AG but it’s nice to have our suspicions confirmed.

So it is now reasonable to assume that the real hold up is at the Attorney General’s office.

30 January 2013: Storm coming

It sounds like the next couple of days are going to be pretty nasty. The NOAA weather site suggests we’re looking at 3/4″ to 1″ of rain tonight through tomorrow along with high winds. We don’t have any snow pack to speak of but still, runoff from 3/4″ of rain should bring the lake up at least 6″ to 8″. After the rain it is supposed to freeze up hard, tomorrow afternoon.