The 2017 fledgling loon, now about 14 weeks old, is pretty much on its own and is rarely seen with it’s parents anymore. It is about full size but it doesn’t have full adult plumage yet so is easy to identify. I spotted it this morning while David Hodsdon and I were out for our last water monitoring session of the season, and was able to get close enough to get this picture. It was a little leery of us and wouldn’t let me get any closer. In the next few weeks it will be flapping around the lake, strengthening it’s wings before it takes off and heads for the coast.
Yearly Archives: 2017
10 October 2017: Aquafortis Associates Rule 80C Brief Filed
Wait. What?
After three and a half years of countless delays and numerous stays, the Clary Lake Water Level Order appeal is finally getting down to business. Late last Friday counsel for Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) hand delivered their 40+ page brief to Lincoln County Superior Court. AQF is requesting the Court “reverse, remand, or modify” the Clary Lake Water Level Order and this brief explains their reasons for their request. I wanted to get it on the website without further delay. I haven’t read it yet but I will do so shortly and will post my thoughts on it at a later date.
09 October 2017: The Beavers Are Back
The water level of Clary Lake has effectively bottomed out this fall about a foot higher than it did last fall. I know the outflow rate has been slowed down considerably as a result of thick vegetation in the outlet channel, but that still didn’t explain why the lake hasn’t fallen as low as expected. Today I discovered why: beavers have begun to block the channel at the downstream end of the Narrow Gauge Railroad abutment located at the head of the mill pond (picture at left). The small dam is only about one foot tall but it is already holding back Clary Lake.
Sadly, I don’t think the beaver responsible for this new dam are going to get a chance to build it much higher: beaver trapping season in this area starts October 29th, and this morning I saw Richard Smith, owner of Aquafortis Associates LLC standing on his side of the Narrow Gauge Railroad abutment talking with someone who looked like (and drove the same red Ford pickup truck as) the person they hired last March to trap out the beaver that had been working to plug up the outlet gate last winter. At least he was driving the same red Ford pickup truck.
While up at the narrow gauge abutment looking at the new beaver dam, I happened to notice that Kelley and Smith have put a tarp over one side roof of the red building (at left) and fastened it down with battens. Nice to see them maintaining their property.
Finally, as I was walking back to my car, I noticed that the gate which has normally been obscured by weeds was fully visible, so I took a picture of it (at left). I’ve known all along that the 34″ diameter gate was partially obstructed, but I always thought is was blocked by a log or rocks or something. However, the picture clearly shows that the gate was built that way: the ‘obstruction” is actually made of steel and completely blocks the bottom third of the gate.
These pictures have been added to the Fall 2017 Photo Gallery.
September 2017 Water Level Chart Archived
I have archived the September 2017 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable feature of the September chart is how little the lake level changed over the course of the month: the lake level dropped only 1.56″ from the first day to the last. This didn’t appear to have much if anything to do with the 2.4″ of precipitation received since the lake barely rose after receiving that rainfall. With effectively no water leaving the lake through the channel for the past several months, likely all of the drop (an average of less than 1/10th of an inch per day) was due to evaporation. The lake reached -58.68″ below the normal high water mark on the last day of the month, the lowest level reached so far this year.
We received only 2.37″ of rain in September (average is 3.74″ for the month) bringing us to 23.65″ for the year which is fully 6.28″ shy of where we should be at this time. According to the National Integrated Drought Information System we’re in MODERATE drought, not as dry as we were last year at this time, but still pretty dry.
Looking at September in light of the lake level trend for the year, the lack of rainfall in 2017 has resulted in a slow but steady decline in water level without any of the ups and downs usually present due to normal precipitation. This lack of “volatility” over the spring and summer is especially noticeable on the Water Level Chart covering the period December 2011 through the current date (above). From December 2011 until the spring of 2015, the lake level during the summer fluctuated up and down considerable whereas since the spring of 2015, after reaching a high in April, the lake level has pretty much steadily fallen to it’s low in October. In 2015, 2016, and so far in 2o17, precipitation has been significantly below average.
This year, the lake reached a high of -8.76″ below the normal high water mark on April 13th, thanks in part to the effort of some beavers who managed to at least partially plug up the dam outlet. This was the highest water level we’ve seen in SEVEN YEARS, since 2010. On a marginally bright note, the lake level effectively bottomed out this year about a foot higher than it did last year. I attribute this to profuse vegetation in the channel which has hampered lake outflow.
While the lack of rainfall has been hard on people’s gardens and wells, the lack of rainfall and resulting runoff has been generally good for Clary Lake’s water quality which has maintained better than average transparency throughout the summer in spite of the drastically low-water conditions. Secchi disk readings this summer never once fell below 3 meters (see our Clary Lake Water Monitoring Data page). David Hodsdon and I are heading out later this morning to collect more water quality data and I expect transparency to have improved even further.
26 September 2017: WLO Appeal Briefing Schedule Revised
The briefing schedule for upcoming filings in the Clary Lake Water Level Order Appeal that was included in the August 15th Court Order (see “Clary Lake Water Level Order Appeal Update“) has been revised by the Court in response to a motion filed by counsel for Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] on August 30th. In addition to requesting a change to the briefing schedule, the motion also requested an increase in the number of pages allowed in the filings (Maine Judicial Court Rules specify page limits for different kinds of filings). Counsel for AQF cited conflicts with long-standing vacation arrangements for the requested change in filing deadlines. The motion was consented to by DEP (meaning the State did not object to the motion) and the court subsequently issued an ORDER on September 7th granting AQF’s motion in its entirety.
AQF’s appeal brief was originally due 40 days from August 15th, on or about September 26th. The date for that initial filing is now October 6, 2017. The State’s Response Brief now is due on November 15, 2017 and the Petitioner’s Reply Brief is due December 4, 2017. The ORDER also granted Petitioner’s request for increased page limits.
I was somewhat dismayed (though not particularly surprised) to learn of the change in the briefing schedule since delays seem to be the way this game is played. I was nonetheless glad the filing dates were only pushed out 10 days. What has me scratching my head however is the fact that the MOTION and the ORDER both list Pleasant Pond Mill LLC [PPM] as a petitioner. I assume this is an oversight as PPM was removed from the suit by COURT ORDER on January 25, 2016 and while a few filings in early 2016 listed both PPM and AQF as petitioners, ALL filings in the last year have included only AQF as petitioner.
I don’t expect additional changes to the briefing schedule.
07 September 2017 Lincoln County News: Commissioners Hear about Clary Lake Dam
Last Tuesday September 5th CLA Board member Jane Chase and I and my wife Margaret attended the Lincoln County Commissioners meeting in Wiscasset to update them on the current status of the Clary Lake water level crisis. The meeting which lasted about 30 minutes came about as the result of a chance meeting between CLA President Malcolm Burson and County Administrator Carrie Kipfer at a Midcoast Conservancy function where they discussed the Clary Lake situation. Ms. Kipfer offered to put us on the agenda for the next County Commissioners meeting. Charlotte Boynton, staff reporter for the Lincoln County News attended the meeting and wrote up a short report of the meeting in this week’s Lincoln County News. The article didn’t make it into the online news site, so I’ve scanned a copy of it for our archive:
This is the first time we have met with the Lincoln County Commissioners though likely not the last; the purpose of this first meeting was to bring the Commissioners up to speed with where things stand with Clary Lake and answer any questions they had. They had a lot, and we covered a lot of ground in 30 minutes. While the Commissioners were generally aware of our water level crisis, they were not particularly familiar with many details surrounding the controversy. I found them genuinely interested and concerned, and fully expect they will be keeping a much closer eye on the situation going forward. We did not ask them to take any action at this time.
One minor correction to the article: the caption for the photograph lists the people left to right, and it should be right to left 🙂
September 2017 Whitefield News: Clary Lake Association Petition Delivered to DEP
The September 2017 issue of the Whitefield News has an article on the front page I wrote about the Clary Lake Association’s recent Petition initiative to DEP. The article includes a little background to help give people who are new to town or who haven’t been following the Clary Lake saga an idea of what’s been going on with our Lake. I hope to write for the Whitefield News from time to time.
The Whitefield News is the monthly newsletter of the own of Whitefield and is available free of charge at the Town Office, the North Whitefield Superette, the Sheepscot General, and as a PDF download on the Town of Whitefield website. Here’s a local copy if you have trouble getting it off the Town site:
31 August 2017 Maine Things Considered: The Water Level On This Maine Lake Has Plummeted
The story on Clary Lake by Maine Public Radio’s Susan Sharon aired on “Maine Things Considered” late this afternoon. If you missed it, not to worry: a transcript with audio and pictures has been posted on the Maine Public Radio website and Facebook Page:
August 2017 Water Level Chart Archived
August 2017
I have archived the August 2017 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable feature of the August chart is the same thing that stood out in the June and July charts: how slowly the lake level fell especially considering how little rainfall we’ve received. The lake level fell steadily over the course of the month with the exception of a small blip up on the 19th of the month as the result of what passes for heavy rains these days. Over the course of the month of August the lake lost and average of only 0.16″ per day, falling only 4.68″ over the course of the entire month. In July it fell 0.21″ per day and in June, 0.38″ per day. These rates of fall are fully 1/2 of what one would expect given the water level. As I stated in last month’s posting, it appears the retarded outflows are the result of the outlet channel being clogged with plant growth. Continue reading
Clary Lake water level story will run Thursday on “Maine Things Considered”
Most of you have heard that Susan Sharon of Maine Public Radio is doing a story on Clary Lake, I posted about it last week. I had expected a little more notice about when the story was going to run but I only found out this evening that it will probably air tomorrow (Thursday, 8/31) at 5:30 pm on “Maine Things Considered.” If for some reason it doesn’t air Thursday, then it should be on Friday either on “Morning Edition” (6 am to 9 am daily) or “Maine Things Considered” at 5:30 pm.
If you happen to miss the on-air presentation, don’t worry! The story will be available on the Maine Public Radio website at some point, and I’ll post a link here when I get it.
Keep an eye out here for updates on this story!
27 August 2017 Centralmaine.com: Whitefield and Jefferson residents list frustrations in petition to DEP
There is an article in today’s Centralmaine.com papers by staff writer Jessica Lowell about the Petition we submitted to DEP last week. The article is in the Kennebec Journal, the Morning Sentinel, and was also picked up by the Portland Press Herald. I love all the publicity! Everywhere I’ve been this week people are mentioning Clary Lake, the petition, and asking me what’s new:
Whitefield and Jefferson residents list frustrations in petition to DEP
I assume the “good faith effort by DEP to bring relief to the residents around Clary Lake” referred to by DEP spokesperson David Madore was the 13 or so months of court-ordered mediation that ended in March 2015. The Notice of Violation (NOV) mentioned was subsequently issued in late September 2015.
My only complaint about the article: they could have used a new photograph! They’re still using a picture included in a story from August 2015.
23 August 2017 Lincoln County News: Petition Calls on DEP to Enforce Clary Lake Water-Level Order
There’s an article in this week’s Lincoln County News by Staff Reporter Abigail Adams about the Petition we filed with DEP on Monday, August 21st. It’s a detailed and timely writeup. Ms. Adams includes a comment from David Madore, DEP Spokesperson, to the effect that “the petition is under review.” The CLA Board has yet to get a response to the Petition from the Commissioner’s office.
I’ve archived a copy of the article should you have trouble getting it off the paper now, or in the future:
23 August 2017: Maine Public Radio is doing a Story on Clary Lake
Maine Public Radio Deputy News Director and General Assignment Reporter Susan Sharon is going to be doing a story on Clary Lake. She came out to Whitefield last Monday to interview me and Malcolm Burson. Her visit included a boat ride to see first hand the impact of our water level crisis on the life and times of Clary Lake. Our tour included a stop on the north shore to meet and interview Kelsie French, long time Clary Lake shore owner with a camp over on Duncan Road in Jefferson. Ms. Sharon’s visit concluded with a stop to see the Clary Lake dam and Clary Mill.
Her story will likely appear sometime within the next week. When I find out the particulars I’ll post them here.
22 August 2017: CLA Petition to DEP Submitted
I want to thank EVERYONE who signed our petition to DEP and to let everyone know that the Petition which the Board introduced at the Clary Lake Association Annual meeting on August 12th, along with over 350 signatures collected both at the meeting and over the course of the week following the meeting, was hand-delivered to the office of the Commissioner of the DEP yesterday, Monday August 21st, as planned. Looking over the signature sheets I believe ALL Clary Lake Association members managed to sign the petition even if they weren’t at the meeting; quite a few people who are currently out of state printed out the signature sheet, signed it, and mailed or emailed it back to me. A lot of people collected signatures for us, but I’d particularly like to thank Debbie Duncan, Ellis Percy, Malcolm Burson, and Jack and Ann Holland for their efforts to collect signatures. It seems like more often than not, when I asked someone to sign they’d say “Already signed it!” 🙂
It remains to be seen how the Department will respond to the petition and what if anything action they will take towards enforcement of the Clary Lake water level order. They have a variety of enforcement options and while I don’t expect miracles, I am cautiously optimistic they will take this matter as seriously as we do. I do expect to hear from them and will keep everyone apprised of any developments.
The petition was also sent to the Lincoln County News, Central Maine Papers, and the Portland Press Herald, and I do expect articles to appear later this week in most if not all those papers.
22 August 2017: Clary Lake Water Level Order Appeal Update
At long last, 3 Orders which we’ve been patiently waiting for since the hearing on April 25, 2017 have finally been issued by Lincoln County Superior Court Judge Daniel Billings. The first Order was a Joint motion for Extension of Filing Deadlines to April 28, 2017 (thanks for that!) and was GRANTED. The second Order has two parts, the first, Petitioner’s Motion for Taking of Additional Evidence and Discovery is DENIED, and Respondent’s Motion for Consideration of Extra-Record Evidence is GRANTED. The third Order pertains to Petitioner’s Motion Requesting Court Modification of the Record and GRANTS the motion with respect ONLY to those exhibits agreed to by DEP. The remainder of Petitioner’s motion is DENIED with respect to those exhibits DEP felt were not relied upon by them in preparing the Water Level Order [WLO] and hence were not relevant in a review of the WLO.
In short, these Orders represent a favorable decision for the State: DEP got everything they asked for while Aquafortis Associates LLC got none of what they asked for except for several concessions not objected to by the State:
So after three and a half years of delays, stays, and stalling tactics (and let’s not forget the 13 months of pointless mediation), the jockeying for position is finally OVER and the time has come to hear the arguments for and against the Clary Lake Water Level Order. We won’t have long to wait: included with the Orders is a Notice and Briefing Schedule which spells out the schedule for the filing of briefs and responses. Assuming everyone uses their allowed time to file their briefs and nobody tries to delay the proceedings further (I expect the Judge has little tolerance for additional delays from here on out) AQF’s brief will be due no more than 40 days from August 15th, by September 25th. The State then has 30 days from the filing of the Petitioner’s brief to file their response, by October 25th. Finally, the Petitioner’s response to the State’s response will be due 14 days later, around October 8th.
For background on the proceedings leading up to these Orders, see “24 March 2017: State files 2 Motions in Aquafortis v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection WLO Appeal” and “11 April 2017: State Files Response to AQF Motion to Modify Record.”
I have not heard anything about the Rubin/Ayer lawsuit lately but it seems reasonable to expect that with the WLO appeal now moving forward, that their suit against Kelley and Smith will also start moving forward.
15 August 2017: Membership Update
At our Annual Meeting just concluded, we added 22 people to our membership rolls, less than usual only because so many people joined or renewed their membership before the meeting. This brings our current member total to 104, by far the most members we’ve ever had right after the Annual Meeting. Typically dues continue to come in for several months after the Annual meeting so I am confident we’ll reach this year’s membership goal of 140. Eight of our new members have never been members before. I find it particularly heartening that we continue to attract new people! Now more than ever, Membership Matters.
For those of you who are a little confused about our membership year, it is not based on the calendar year but instead straddles it, running from Annual meeting to Annual meeting which is usually on the 1st Saturday in August (this year it was changed to the second Saturday to accommodate our meeting hosts). It’s been this way since the the Association was first formed back in 1960 and while there has been talk over the years of changing our membership year to correspond to the calendar year, it’s never happened and probably won’t anytime soon.
I posted these membership numbers last spring in a previous “membership update” and they bear repeating here:
Clary Lake Association Membership History
| Membership Year | Number of Members |
|---|---|
| 2011/2012 | 28 |
| 2012/2013 | 41 |
| 2013/2014 | 50 |
| 2014/2015 | 70 |
| 2015/2016 | 81 |
| 2016/2017 | 120 |
| 2017/2018 | 140 |
| 2018/2019 | 150 |
| 2019/2020 | 154 |
| 2020/2021 | 164 |
| 2021/2022 | 168 |
| 2022/2023 | 177 |
| 2023/2024 | ?? |
While the change in our bylaws a few years ago allowing 1) multiple members per family and 2) not requiring that members own property on Clary Lake or have deeded (legal) access to it explains some of the increase in recent years, it doesn’t begin to fully account for it by any means. Clearly, there is increased concern over the health and wellbeing of Clary Lake and a burgeoning of interest in and appreciation of the important role the Clary Lake Association is playing in current events. The value of the work we’re doing to represent the interests of lake shore owners and community members alike and keeping everyone informed and engaged is extremely important. While we haven’t succeeded in resolving the current water level crisis yet, we are helping guide it to a satisfactory conclusion. And progress IS being made.
Again, I would like to thank everyone for their ongoing commitment to Clary Lake, and the Clary Lake Association.
12 August 2017: Annual Meeting a Great Success
Annual Clary Lake Association Meeting, August 12, 2017. Meeting finally underway. About 50 people attended the meeting. Photograph by George Fergusson
The Annual 2017 Clary Lake Association meeting was a great success. I’ll post a thorough update in a few days, but for now I just wanted to get a few pictures online and say THANK YOU!! to all the people that helped make this a great meeting. In particular, many thanks to Erin Grimshaw for hosting the meeting.
These pictures are in the Spring/Summer 2017 Gallery.
12 August 2017: ANNUAL MEETING NOT CANCELED!!
Despite the somewhat wet and rainy conditions outside your window this morning, we’ve been assured that Partly Sunny conditions will arrive for this afternoon. The rain is forecast to stop later this morning with only a chance of showers late this afternoon and evening.
We will NOT be invoking the rain date provision of our meeting announcement! Going forward we will be moving away from having a rain date at all, which means finding a venue that works rain or shine. This time of year, it’s hard enough to schedule an afternoon let alone keeping 2 consecutive afternoons available. People are busy.
Hope to see you at the meeting!
12 August 2017: Moderate Drought Conditions Continue
Visit the Drought Monitor page to check conditions in your area.
09 August 2017: ClaryCam2 Back In Service
ClaryCam2 is back in service! David Hodsdon has replaced the dead camera with a new one of the same make and model and we got it hooked up and connecting this afternoon. From the looks of it I’d say he hasn’t been keeping his shoreline mowed. You can just make out the State Boat launch on the right side of the photo. I think David is going to straighten the image just a bit if he hasn’t already.
You can see all 3 cameras on the Clary Lake Webcams page. Here’s the updated Remote Access information:
Remote Access
Realtime remote access is currently working for all 3 cameras. The username and password is the same: Username: guest Password: 123abc
Clarycam 1
For access with a browser: http://clarycam1.ddns.net:88/
For access with VLC: rtsp://guest:123abc@clarycam1.ddns.net:554/videoMain
Clarycam 2:
For access with a browswer: http://la9446.myfoscam.org:88/
For access with VLC: rtsp://guest:123abc@la9446.myfoscam.org:554/videoMain
Clarycam 3:
For access with a browser: http://clarycam3.ddns.net:89/
For access with VLC: rtsp://guest:123abc@clarycam3.ddns.net:555/videoMain