Yearly Archives: 2021

September 2021 Water Quality Update

Total Phosphorus Chart

The Total Phosphorus test results from our 8/6/2021 core water sample came back the other day at 0.035 mg/liter, the highest TP value we’ve ever recorded. This is ominous. The next highest value we recorded was 0.034 mg/liter in July 2007 (see chart at left). I don’t remember the particular circumstances surrounding that reading, but there was another high TP reading of 0.032 mg/l more recently, in July 2015 that I do remember. It coincided with a secchi disk reading of only 1.95 meters indicating an algae bloom was in progress (secchi disk readings of 2 meters and below indicate a bloom in progress). You can see this 1.95 meter data point on the chart showing Clary transparency below. In this particular case, extreme low water conditions were a major contributing factor to poor water quality!! I expected a high TP value this time because of the 9″ of rain received in July. Rain means runoff and runoff means soil erosion and sedimentation which is the primary source of Phosphorus in lakes, but still, I was surprised to see such a high number. High phosphorus levels are not good for water quality! We really need to update our Watershed Survey!

Despite the high phosphorus level, we haven’t seen a significant algae bloom yet this summer and we may not, though I did notice a few wisps of dead cyanobacteria along the shoreline back in August, and water transparency is currently holding up nicely: at our last the water monitoring session on Sunday September 5th, Kelsie French and I had secchi disk readings of 3.55 and 3.45 meters respectively which is about average, and better than expected considering the level of phosphorus in the water. Transparency could deteriorate quickly however and we’re going to keep a close eye on it; we will take our 3rd and final water sample for Phosphorus testing during our next water quality monitoring session in a couple of weeks. Continue reading →

August 2021 Water Level Chart Archived

August 2021

I have archived the August 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). The 3.08 inches of rain we received in August fell slightly short of the 3.33 inch average for the month, so we’re a little further behind (-1.58 inches) for the year than we were at the end of July. We’ve received 26.17 inches of rain to date, the average for the end of August is 27.75 inches. We also anticipated a good soaking as the remnants of Hurricane Fred and Hurricane Henri passed by within a few days of each other and on August 19th and we opened the dam’s gate a foot to release some water and create some headspace for what potentially could have been a lot of storm water runoff. The storms were a disappointment however, dropping only a combined total of 0.84 inches of rain with virtually no additional runoff and we ended up closing the gate 5 days after opening it, having lowered the lake a grand total of only 3.4 inches. Now it looks like Hurricane Ida which will be passing to our south later this week may result in significant rainfall. Time will tell. Continue reading →

17 August 2021: Milfoil Returns to Cobbossee Lake

Variable Leaf Milfoil, Pleasant Pond, Litchfield Maine.

Eurasian Water-Milfoil was discovered in Cobbossee Lake in 2018 (see our post dated August 8, 2018: “Invasive Milfoil Confirmed in Cobbosseecontee Lake“). The following year Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection treated several areas of the lake with an herbicide in an attempt to kill off the invasive plant. They were optimistic that the treatment would be successful because the infestation was limited (so they thought) to roughly an acre between the north shore and Island Park. Sadly, the following year Milfoil was again discovered in several areas adjacent to the original infestation, which is where this Central Maine Papers newspaper article picks up. Please read it! It paints an ugly but accurate picture of the situation they’re facing trying to eradicate this unwanted aquatic plant: Continue reading →

Call To Action: Help Fight Invasive Purple Loosestrife!

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

For the past 3-4 years I’ve been removing isolated instances of the non-native invasive plant Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) that I have found growing in and around Clary Lake. With the help of a couple of other people we’ve been able to keep this invasive plant at bay, but the situation is getting worse and I’m no longer able to keep on top of this issue without enlisting more help. Clary’s lakeshore residents need to step up to help manage this threat. It really is important that we prevent Purple Loosestrife from gaining a solid foothold around Clary Lake.

This year I’ve seen more Purple Loosestrife growing than ever before. A few weeks ago, Kelsie French and I spent half an hour pulling up plants growing down on the east end of the lake and the other day, some of them growing on the edge of the water, and some in as much as 3 feet of water. I spotted another large plant growing on the edge of the marsh over by Duncan Road the other day but was unable to get to it in my boat. You can see a good sized field of it doing what it does best, spreading uncontrolled in a small field across the road from the Whitefield Post Office. I’ve written about this invasive plant several times in recent years (see “29 July 2018: Have You Seen This Plant? [UPDATED]“). We need to take seriously the threat this invasive plant poses for Clary Lake. Continue reading →

12 August 2021: Damariscotta Lake Blooms

Damariscotta Lake has been experiencing considerable cyanobacteria growth in recent years, a troubling condition that affects many lakes in Maine. Some lakes are big enough for these types of events to impact only certain areas, though they can be lake-wide. This particular algal bloom in Damariscotta is in the Mills area. So far this summer I’ve noticed only slightly elevated levels of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) in Clary as evidenced by faint wisps of dead algae on the water surface and slightly reduced transparency in early August. This is most likely the result of runoff from heavy rains in July. A small amount of algae growth is expected, and is more or less normal. Clary Lake however is by no means immune to severe algae blooms, defined as a transparency of 2 meters or less and while we haven’t experienced a severe bloom since 2014 (see chart at left), it can and will under the right condition happen again. It behooves us to be vigilant and minimize soil erosion on our properties to stop the introduction of sediment and phosphorus into our lake.

Algae Bloom at Damariscotta Mills Potentially Harmful

The Midcoast Conservancy staffer Patricia Nease who is monitoring the Damariscotta Lake bloom spoke at our recent Annual Meeting about the Invasive Plant Patrol program on Damariscotta Lake and things we should consider when starting up an IPP program on Clary Lake.

10 August 2021: CLA Annual Meeting Poorly Attended!

The Annual Meeting of the Clary Lake Association that was held last Saturday, August 7th was a fine meeting, but not all that well attended. Much to our chagrin, it turns out we did not have a quorum present, something that didn’t become apparent until a couple of days later when I was reviewing the attendance records. Oops! This means that the election of Officers and Board members and the Membership approval of our 2021/2022 budget were invalid, and will have to be redone. Our Bylaws define a quorum as 1/3 of the membership, and at any meeting of the Association, assuming a quorum is present, a simple majority can conduct Association business. We had at the time 143 members, 1/3 of which is 48. So we needed a quorum of 48 but we fell short of that mark with only 30 Members attending. While this isn’t the end of the world, it is an inconvenience that we will rectify by scheduling a Special Membership Meeting sometime next month and mailing out proxy ballots to all current Members of the Association. In the meantime, our bylaws provide for those people IN office to remain IN office until such time as their replacements are elected, so we’re not leaderless. Phew 🙂 Continue reading →

Thanks From Lake Stewards of Maine

The Clary Lake Association has been members of the Lake Stewards of Maine (formerly the Volunteer Lake Monitor Program) since 1975. We felt that this letter thanking us for our annual donation should be shared with our Membership so they can see where some of our money goes!

LSM-Receipt-2021

July 2021 Water Level Chart Archived

July 2021

I have archived the July 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). And just like that, the drought was over. The dry conditions that have plagued us since the beginning of the year have been effectively wiped out in one month due to the exceptional amount of rainfall we received in July. At the beginning of the month we were 6.78 inches shy of rainfall for the year. Then over the course of the month we received a total of 9 inches of rain! As of the end of the month we’re shy only 1.33 inches of the average of 24.42 inches for this date. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the drought will stay gone, but at least for now we can relax. It does appear that mid-to-late summer and fall drought conditions are the new normal. Time will tell. Continue reading →

10 July 2021: Hurricane Elsa Delivers Much Needed Rain [UPDATED]

July 2021 Precipitation as of 7-10-21

On its way up the New England coast yesterday, Hurricane Elsa dropped over 3″ of rain on Clary Lake. While this won’t end our drought, it will go a long ways towards replenishing ground water supplies, and it brought the lake up enough for water to flow over the top of the dam again. For the month of July we’re now at 5.35 inches, well above the average of 3.54 inches. For the year we’re now only (only?) 4.97 inches short of normal for this date.

[UPDATE]: As of this morning and for the FIRST TIME this year, the lake level is +0.08 feet ABOVE the High Water Mark having risen 7.08 inches since yesterday morning. Plenty of water flowing over the top of the dam as the picture at left shows. What a treat to have such high water this time of year!

08 July 2021: Great Loon Video

Here’s a great video about Loons with fantastic photography. No word on whether Clary Lake’s loons are nesting this year. They probably are and we just haven’t discovered where they’re doing it. If they do successfully hatch out some chicks, we should know soon.

Maine Lakes 2021 Spring Newsletter

A little late but better late than never, Maine Lake’s Spring 2021 newsletter is now freely available on line and is well worth perusing. The Clary Lake Association has been a long time member of Maine Lakes (formerly the Maine Lakes Society). Among other things, Maine Lakes administers the award winning LakeSmart program: “LakeSmart is an education and reward program that helps lakefront homeowners manage landscapes in ways that protect water quality. The program is free, non-regulatory, and voluntary.” The Clary Lake Association is considering participating in the LakeSmart program in the near future.

June 2021 Water Level Chart Archived

June 2021

I have archived the June 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). The drought deepens. We were shy 5.20 inches of rainfall at the end of May, now we’re shy 6.76 inches of rainfall at the end of June. We received a total of only 2.15 inches of rain in June, fully 1.58 inches less than normal. This brings us to 14.1 inches for the year to date. Our drought is nowhere near as severe as they’re experiencing in the western half of our country and especially in the southwest, but that is small consolation: this deficit will have a profound impact on our environment and ground water supplies for the rest of the year, and it’s not over. It’s so dry that even when we received a significant rainfall of 0.99 inches on the 22nd of June, the lake level only came up 1/3 of an inch. Lesser rainfall amounts during the month had almost no measurable effect on the lake level. There are two reasons for this: The primary explanation is that the ground around the lake is so dry that when the lake receives rain, the rising water is quickly wicked off into the surrounding dry shoreline. The other reason is that at this lake elevation, adding more water to the lake mostly makes the lake bigger, not deeper. Continue reading →

Kenneth Sperry Rapp August 22, 1945 – June 22, 2021

Ken and Dedi Rapp have been Clary Lake shore owners and Association members for as long as I can remember. The family camp, originally built by Ken’s parents Bill & Catherine Rapp on property purchased from Paul MacDonald in 1967, is over on the northeast shore of Clary Lake, next north of Thomas & Delph Gillette. Ken’s daughter Jennifer Rapp Goyet reached out to me this morning to inform me of her father’s passing. Here is Ken’s Obituary:

Kenneth Sperry Rapp August 22, 1945 – June 22, 2021

Kenneth Sperry Rapp, 75, passed away peacefully on June 22, 2021 with his wife by his side. Ken was born in Pensacola, FL and has lived in Virginia Beach since 1988. He was the son of the late VADM William T. Rapp and Catherine A. Rapp, and was also preceded in death by his brother Richard Rapp. He was a proud veteran of the USMC, and served as a Marine Embassy Guard throughout various countries. After his military service he started out in banking as a Foreign Exchange Trader, then later became a Real Estate Broker. Continue reading →

Clary Lake 4th of July Boat Parade!!

Clary Lake
4th of July Boat Parade!!