I’m calling Ice In today, December 22, 2022. I drove around the lake earlier checking the ice from various locations with binoculars looking for open water and I couldn’t find any. And that’s that, as my friend Ernest would say. It remains to be seen whether the ice survives the warm weather, heavy rain, and high wind forecast for tomorrow. Time will tell.

Today is day 355 of the year which is a little later than the average of 348 for ice-in, and there were 268 ice-free days in 2022; average is 252 ice-free days. We really don’t have data going back far enough to be able to see any long-term trends.

The lake was *almost* frozen over back on the 13th but there were still a few patches of open water to be found. David Hodsdon did some research into definitions of ice-in and he came up with “Ice-in is when the lake is completely covered with ice for it least one day and night and remains at least partially (say 50%) covered from then on.“

Danny Bell sent me this picture this afternoon. He and his wife Jenna and 3 kids are living in a house on the south shore of Clary Lake.

October 2022

I have archived the October 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). For the third month in a row we received more than the monthly average amount of rain, 1.6 inches more in fact. We’re now 2.72 inches ahead of the game having received 38.76 inches of rain to date. May, June, and July were the only months this year we’ve fallen short of the monthly average. It’s no surprise with all the rain that the lake level which had been below normal for much of the summer is back where it belongs this time of year, maybe even a little higher than usual. We’ll be drawing the lake level down as winter approaches.

The real news for October (as it was in September too) is the ongoing algae bloom. Back in September I was saying it was the “worst since 2013” but it has hung on all of October and it looks like it’s going to drag on into November as well, making this by far the worst and longest duration algae bloom event I can remember, and everyone I’ve talked to about it agrees. DEP is keeping an eye on it. I know I’m not alone in being concerned for our lake’s health and unhappy about the unpleasant green color of our water in late summer and fall and the green scum that has been washing up on our shores for the past two months.

So why did it bloom this year? I think the chart at left pretty much tells the story, and there is no need to get all technical about it: Lots of winter and early spring inflows washed Phosphorus into the lake. This was followed by 4 months of hot dry weather during which there were almost no lake outflows. Nonetheless from around the 1st of May until late August, the lake level fell steadily, losing 1.5 feet of water; this water loss represented a volume loss of almost 15% which is not insignificant. Virtually all the water loss was due to evaporation which concentrated the nutrients that algae feed on, most importantly, Phoshorus. While the ingredients for a bloom were there by the end of August, how the bloom has managed to hang on this long is still mystery to me as I thought it would have burned itself out after a few weeks. I’ll continue my analysis and post more about it at another time.

September 2022

I have archived the September 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). For the second month in a row we received a little more than the monthly average amount of rain though it wasn’t until the month was a little more than halfway over that the heavier rains finally arrived. This late influx of water allowed us to bring the lake up to a more reasonable level for the time of year We ended up receiving 4.08 inches of rain (normal is 3.84 inches). We’re now 1.14 inches ahead of normal for this date. Had the rain deficit we saw at the beginning of the month continued, we’d have ended the month with the lake level down around -2 feet. Instead, we’re more or less where we should be as we head into fall. We spent much of the summer with a lake level considerably lower than in the previous 3 years. We’re now more or less back to normal. This has allowed us to resume our dam management activities and on the 22nd we removed 4 stop logs in preparation for the winter drawdown. Continue reading →

I have archived the August 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). In August we finally got a reprieve from the drought conditions that have plagued us for the last 4 months. For the first time since April we received more than the average amount of monthly rainfall. All told, we received 3.93″ of rain, 0.6″ more than average. Drought.gov now shows us to be in Moderate Drought which is less droughty than previously, suggesting that ground water supplies are improving but are still somewhat depleted. My own rainfall records show us 0.90″ ahead for this date but that doesn’t speak to groundwater supplies. Continue reading →

The Clary Lake Association’s 2022 Annual Meeting happened, last Saturday at the Clary Lake dam. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect, the meeting was well attended (we even had a quorum this time!) and the food, as usual, was excellent (the baked black crappie and the blueberry pies deserve special mention). Because of the raffle drawing, we didn’t have a main program this year. After introductions, the meeting started with review and acceptance of the 2021 Annual Meeting minutes followed by the Treasurer’s Report and Proposed budget. Elections next, only one spot open this year: Maggie Muth was voted in as a Board member for 3 years, replacing outgoing Board member Kelsie French. Next came the Program and Committee reports: the Annual Loon Count presented by Mary Gingrow-Shaw; the Loon Restoration Project presented by Eleanor Goldberg; the Dam Operations, Courtesy Boat Inspection, and Lake Water Quality Program reports presented by George Fergusson; the Program and Events Committee report presented by Margaret Fergusson; and an update on the Dry Hydrant presented by Steve Cowles. Numerous questions were asked and answered. The only new business was a short statement at the end by Thomas Vigue about his plan to petition the IF&W to stock Clary Lake with  Brown Trout. You’ll find a few more meeting pictures in the Spring/Summer 2022 photo gallery. Continue reading →

2019 Annual Meeting

The 2022 Annual Meeting of the Clary Lake Association is this coming Saturday, August 27th, at 2:00PM at the Clary Lake dam on Route 218 in Whitefield. The weather is supposed to be excellent. We’d like to start on-time so if you’re planning to join or renew your membership for the upcoming 2022/2023 Membership Year at the meeting, please arrive early! We’ll have a registration table setup by 12:30PM. Dues are $25 per member which entitles you to one vote on matters brought before the Membership. You can also signup or renew your membership online using our Secure Paypal gateway (our membership year runs from Annual Meeting to Annual Meeting). We’ll also be selling raffle tickets prior to the start of the meeting at 2PM. The raffle drawing will be held at the conclusion of the  business meeting. Here’s some additional information about our Summer 2022 Raffle. Continue reading →

The drought is getting worse. We’re now in Severe Drought, and the 1/2 inch of rain we received in yesterday’s squall, though welcome, actually did little to ease the dry conditions. A month ago we were in Moderate Drought (see: 8 July 2022: Moderate Drought). It’s only gotten worse. We’re supposed to get another 1/4 to 1/2 inch in the next couple of days but as welcome as it is, it won’t do much to relieve the extreme dry conditions; we need an extended period of slow soaking rains to replenish ground water supplies and relieve the parched earth. See Drought.gov for more information.

Usually the header image/banner on the website rotates randomly. I’ve decided to highlight specific banner images for a while. I’ll pick one and leave it up for a few days. Today’s banner is from a photograph Carolyn Curtis took this very afternoon at her camp on Hornpout Lane, looking east when a rain squall passed over. Now THAT is a rainbow. Wow. Thank you Carolyn! Here it is again:

Dave Knight and friends in the flagship of the Clary Lake Association during the Clary Lake Fourth of July parade. Photo CLA member by Donna Roeckel

Sometime around midsummer I like to provide a Membership update, to let people know where we stand and to gently remind people to send in their dues if they’ve forgotten! As for where we stand, we’ve got 129 people signed up for the upcoming membership year so far which puts us 73% of the way towards meeting our 2022/2023 Membership goal of 175. I guess that’s more or less where we should be this time of year. Of that 129 members, 18 are new to the Clary Lake Association. I find it very gratifying that we’re still attracting new members!  After all, if you care about Clary Lake and appreciate having a lake full of clean water where you can swim, boat, and fish, you should support the Clary Lake Association! You’ll find plenty of reasons on our Benefits of Membership page. Continue reading →

July 2022

I have archived the July 2022 Water Level Chart (at left). Easily the most notable thing about the July chart is the steady decline in the lake level for pretty much the whole month! In fact, the lake dropped 28 of the 31 days in July, only rising slightly (or remaining unchanged) on 3 days in response to rainfall received on the 18th, 25th, and the 28th. We ended up with 3.04 inches of rainfall for the month, 1/2 an inch shy of the normal 3.54 inches. To date we’re still 0.30 inches ahead of normal, but don’t be fooled: as I’ve pointed out before, total rainfall doesn’t really give an accurate picture of ground water supplies. We’re currently in moderate drought meaning groundwater supplies are hurting. Here’s a great map of the State: https://www.drought.gov/states/maine. The government site is blocking the Maine Climate Office for some reason which is why our weather page is showing a broken drought graphic 🙁 Continue reading →