The hearing for oral arguments in the matter of Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) v. Board of Environmental Protection (docket AP-20-4) took place yesterday afternoon in Lincoln County Superior Court, Judge Daniel Billings presiding. The hearing was held using Google Meet (picture at left) and a few CLA board members including myself joined. I had planned on recording the hearing and making that recording available for viewing, but unlike Zoom meetings (with which I’m more familiar), recording is not an option with Google Meet. I did however take copious notes. Attorney for AQF Dennis Carrillo presented his case first, followed by Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak who represented the Board of Environmental Protection and finally, counsel for the Clary Lake Association Randy Creswell spoke. Judge Billings periodically asked questions. The hearing was scheduled to last 1 hour but it went considerably longer, about an hour and a half. Continue reading
Author Archives: George Fergusson
August 2020 Water Level Chart Archived
August 2020
I have archived the August 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). August was characterized by extremely dry and and extremely hot weather which lead to considerable lake water loss due to evaporation. The anticipated influx of runoff from tropical storm Isaias at the beginning of the month never materialized, so our efforts to create a little headroom for storm water runoff only resulted in lowering the lake level two and a half inches, not that anyone noticed! From that level (-0.65 feet below the HWM) the lake level fell steadily at the rate of about 1/4 inch per day until a series of popup thunderstorms starting on August 24th brought some much needed rain to the area that helped keep the lake level from falling further. The lake ended up at -0.90 feet below the HWM. Historically, the water level in Clary would never have been this high in August. Continue reading
26 August 2020: State Boat Launch Posted No Swimming
We were as surprised as anyone when a No Swimming sign appeared at the State boat launch on Clary Lake a few weeks ago. We spoke to Diano Circo, Chief Planner at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) and asked about the sign. It appears there have been numerous complaints of swimmers not getting out of the way when a boater wants to launch or retrieve their craft, both at the Clary launch and at other State-owned launches around the State. According to Mr. Circo, the IF&W has decided to post all State-owned boat launches. Whether this is true or not we can’t say, but another reliable source has confirmed that the State does plan on taking this action in the near future. Department of Conservation rules of conduct at State boat launch facilities prohibit swimming at State-owned boat launches but the no swimming rule has generally not been enforced. That “look the other way” stance has apparently changed. Continue reading
13 August 2020: Hearing Scheduled for AQF Appeal
It appears the Aquafortis Associates LLC [AQF] appeal of the Water Level Order Transfer (docket AP-20-4) is going to hearing after all! A one-hour hearing for oral arguments has been scheduled in Lincoln County Superior Court on September 8th at 2:30 PM. The hearing will be held in front of the Honorable Daniel Billings using Google Meet (Google’s version of Zoom). I assume the hearing will be available to the general public but I don’t have information about how to connect yet. When I do I’ll make that information available. The State will be represented by Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak, the Clary Lake Association will be represented by Attorney Randy Creswell who so ably represented us during the Bankruptcy proceedings (and got us the dam!), and AQF is being represented by Dennis Carrillo. The Clary Lake Association is named as a Party in Interest in the appeal. Continue reading
5 August 2020: CBI Mid-Summer Update
Jack Holland conducting courtesy boat inspections at the State boat launch. Photo by George Fergusson
Our Courtesy Boat Inspection program is running like a well oiled bicycle this summer, thanks to an energetic and committed volunteer work force. We got a bit of a late start last year, but this year we started boat inspections on Memorial Day weekend and have managed to have volunteers at the State boat launch every weekend from 6 AM until 2 PM ever since. To date we’ve staffed 93 two-hour shifts for a total of 192.1 volunteer hours and have conducted 315 inspections. So far this year we’ve only found one plant on an inbound boat that turned out not to be invasive. State-wide there have been 4,312 shifts (most are two hour shifts but some are longer) and 54,815 inspections conducted and 1,616 plants were found, 67 of which have been identified as invasive plants. I’d say the program is working! You can look at the data directly using the 2020 Maine Courtesy Boat Inspection Dashboard. Select the Clary Lake Association from the “Select Organization” list to see our data. Continue reading
02 August 2020: July Water Level Chart Archived
July 2020
I have archived the July 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). For the third month in a row we’ve managed to maintain a relatively stable water level despite mild drought conditions prevalent at the start of the month. The lake level fluctuated only 1.5 inches from low to high over the course of the month, starting out at -0.50 feet and ending the month with the lake level at -0.41 feet. A number of people have let us know that they think the lake level this summer has been about perfect. We were shy of the monthly average rainfall until two back-to-back squalls on July 30th dumped a little over an inch of rain and pushed our monthly rainfall total to 3.77 inches, a little over the average for July of 3.54 inches. Because of an extra dry June, we’re still 0.28 inches below average for this date.
Tropical storm Isaias is due to pass through Maine this coming Tuesday night into Wednesday, and it has the potential of dropping several inches of rain, if not more. We’ve temporarily increased outflows so as to create a little head space to accommodate the anticipated storm water runoff. We don’t expect any significant flooding or a major change in the water level when it’s all said and done. Continue reading
09 July 2020: Aquafortis Associates Files Combined Reply Brief
On Thursday July 9, 2020 Aquafortis Associates, LLC [AQF] filed their reply brief in the matter of AQF v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection [BEP] Docket No. WISSC-AP-20-4, it being an appeal of a Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] Order issued in December 2018 transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order to the Clary Lake Association. AQF filed their initial brief on May 29th of this year; their reply brief is a combined reply to both the BEP’s brief filed on June 19th and the Clary Lake Association’s brief filed on June 25th. This latest document includes 52 pages but there are a number of attachments; the actual reply brief itself is actually only 16 pages long:
Now that AQF’s petition has been fully briefed, the next step is up to the Court. The judge may schedule a hearing for oral arguments or he may just issue a ruling. I have no idea what to expect or when to expect it. I’m going to refrain from further comment at this time.
4th of July Clary Lake Boat Parade
Bill & Sue McKeen getting a plug in for the Whitefield Library.
Well the 4th of July 2020 Clary Lake Boat Parade happened, here are pictures to prove it. There were so many boats traveling at different speeds it was impossible to get one picture that showed all of them. There were boats all over the lake. What a sight! It was so well attended and so much fun that I can’t imagine it won’t happen again next year. Many thanks to Shanna Pease for organizing it!
Here’s a gallery of pictures. I took a lot of them, and people sent me even more pictures. It took a while to sort through and resize them and in the process I lost track of who took what so I’m sorry for the lack of attributions.
Clary Lake Birding and Marsh Paddle Event
American Bittern
Ex-president and current CLA Board member Malcolm Burson has offered to lead one or more birding excursions in the Marsh at the northwest end of Clary Lake some weekend later in July (date to be determined). Both Malcolm and his partner Eleanor Goldberg are long time birders with considerable experience spotting and identifying birds. The plan would be to meet at and leave from Malcolm’s camp around 7 AM and head down the channel towards the dam.
Since birding at this time of year is mostly all about bird songs, participation is restricted to canoes, kayaks, and boats with electric trolling motors! To keep it to a manageable sized group, we’d like to limit it to roughly 6-7 vessels at a time, that way social distancing can be maintained without people getting too spread out. If there’s sufficient interest we’ll schedule a second expedition later in early August.
Right now Saturday July 18th or Sunday July 19th are looking like workable weekends. If you’re interested in participating in this event please let us know as soon as possible and include your preferred day (Saturday or Sunday) so we can start to finalize plans. You can use our Contact Form or just let George Fergusson know. Thanks!
June 2020 Water Level Chart Archived
June 2020
I have archived the June 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). For the second month in a row, the most notable thing about the chart is how relatively stable the water level was especially in light of how little rain we received! Total water level variation for the month was only 0.18 feet (2.2 inches), starting out the month at -0.37 feet below the HWM, falling to a low of -0.55 feet on the 27th, and finally ending the month a little higher at -0.50 feet below the HWM thanks to some much needed rain. Keep in mind that the HWM is actually 3 inches or so ABOVE the lowest point on the dam; for most of the month the lake was pretty much lapping at the top of the dam. We really can’t get more stable than that. Continue reading
26 June 2020: Clary Lake Association Files Brief in AQF WLO Transfer Appeal
On Thursday June 25th the Clary Lake Association through their counsel Randy Creswell timely filed their brief in the matter of Aquafortis Associates, LLC [AQF] v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection [BEP] Docket No. WISSC-AP-20-04. The State of Maine filed their brief a week ago, on June 19th. AQF now has 14 days from the service of these briefs to file their reply briefs. For the State’s brief the deadline is July 3rd and for our brief, the deadline is July 9th. Someone is going to have a fun-filled Fourth of July weekend!
The Clary Lake Association is but a Party in Interest to this appeal and as such we really didn’t need to file a reply to AQF’s brief, especially considering how thorough and irrefutable the State’s brief is. Nonetheless we felt that providing some additional arguments supporting our right, title, and interest in the Clary Lake dam was a worthwhile effort. Continue reading
Lake Stewards of Maine’s Summer Webinar Series
The Lake Stewards of Maine (formerly Maine Volunteer Lake Monitor Program) is putting on a series of weekly webinars on various topics of interest to people involved with Maine Lakes. This notice is from an email I just received. I’ve attended 2 webinars so far, the first on Climate Change and it’s Impact on Maine Lakes and most recently, a program on Metaphyton. Highly recommend taking in some of these programs if you can find the time. Head over to their website to see what’s being offered. I’ll try to publicize future webinars here.
Please Join Us for our Summer Webinar Series:
In lieu of our Annual Lake Monitoring Conference, Lake Stewards of Maine – Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program will be hosting a series of weekly informational webinars from June through August on a wide range of topics pertaining to Maine Lakes. The sessions will be approximately one hour in length, and will include an opportunity for Q&A for those who attend the live webinars on the posted calendar date. Pre-registration is required for all who plan to attend. The webinars are open to Maine’s citizen lake scientists, as well as the general public.
The live webinars will take place at 4PM on Friday afternoons, beginning on June 5, and will go through August 28, with the exception of the holiday weekend of July 3. All sessions will be recorded, and made available for future viewing on our website.
The Next webinar looks quite interesting:
Citizen Stewards and Maine Lakes:
Collaborative Approaches for Sustainable Systems
Presented by Firooza Pavri, PhD; airing this Friday, June 26 at 4pm
Freshwater resources provide vital societal and ecosystem services. Keeping our lakes and ponds healthy for future generations will require that we strive to gain a more nuanced understanding of the complex factors that influence their well-being. Historically, models aimed at identifying which Maine lakes may be most vulnerable to ecosystem decline have rarely considered the role that private citizens may play in the process. However, local citizen stewardship efforts such as water quality and invasive plant monitoring, watershed surveys, and other citizen-driven conservation and management efforts can be a major factor in determining the long-term resilience of an aquatic ecosystem. In this webinar, Dr. Pavri will share her recent research looking at the important role that citizen lake scientists and other lake residents play in protecting Maine waters for the future, and how we can use this information to more clearly determine lake vulnerability.
19 June 2020: State Files Brief in AQF WLO Transfer Appeal
On Friday June 19th the State of Maine timely filed their brief in the matter of Aquafortis Associates, LLC v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection Docket No. WISSC-AP-20-04. The original appeal was filed by AQF in December 2018 in response to DEP’s issuance of an Order transferring the Clary Lake Water Level Order from Pleasant Pond Mill LLC to the Clary Lake Association, after we bought the dam in October, 2018 and it’s taken a convoluted and circuitous route to get where we are today. If you’re wondering WHY Aquafortis Associates LLC decided to spend the time and money appealing the WLO transfer, you’re not alone. You may want to also review Aquafortis Associate LLC’s brief, previously filed on May 27th. Seeing as how this is an ongoing case in which the Clary Lake Association is an interested party, I’m going to refrain from further comment at this time.
Clary Lake 4th of July Boat Parade!
Shanna Pease is organizing a 4th of July Boat Parade on Clary Lake. This is not a Clary Lake Association sponsored event but it is nonetheless a Clary Lake event and we are happy to help promote it! Hope see you out there!
Please join in on the first
Clary Lake
4th of July Boat Parade!!
When: 4th of July
Where: Clary Lake
Time: 2 PM
Details: Decorate your boat and meet down by the public landing for a cruise of the lake! Let’s celebrate the 4th in style.
For more information or if you have questions please feel free to text or call Shanna Pease at 485-4171.
Drought Conditions
A while ago we had a Drought Monitor page on the website, but it stopped being supported and finally stopped working. I’ve added this U.S. Drought Monitor graphic to the Weather page. When I originally posted this article on June 18th, we were considered to be “Abnormally Dry.” So far this month we’ve only recorded a hair over 1″ of rain.
8 June 2020: Maine Lakes Society Spring 2020 Newsletter
The Maine Lakes Society has mailed their Spring 2020 Newsletter and it’s been made available as a PDF for online viewing. Enjoy. It’s a very nice newsletter with several very interesting articles including one on Snapping Turtles and another on Toxic Algal Blooms. Totally worth perusing this newsletter:
Maine Lakes Society’s This Week’s Hero
I blame my father. I’m not one to seek attention but I suppose this is news and if I don’t share it here, no one will 🙂
From the Maine Lakes website’s 50 Lake Heroes for Our 5oth Anniversary post:
George Fergusson, Clary Lake
In 2011, Clary Lake and its Association were in trouble. A dispute with the owner of the dam controlling the lake level was leading toward seven years of unswimmable, unboatable water and significant environmental damage to the natural resource. Only 28 of 100+ littoral owners were members. Now in 2019, thanks to the unwavering efforts of George Fergusson, the Association’s long-time Secretary, the CLA has purchased and repaired the dam, the water level has been restored, and 148 (!) members can once again enjoy the benefits of a healthy lake.
George has lived on Clary Lake his entire adult life, and has been its prime steward for decades. He instigated the 2012 petition to DEP for a Lake Level Order, and then bore the brunt of legal harassment by the dam owner that prevented the Order from being implemented for five years. This included endless hours compiling and drafting documents for court, attending innumerable hearings, and managing fund-raising for legal expenses. His personal solicitation of new members meant that when the dam fell into bankruptcy, the Association could raise $120,000 for purchase and repair. George is a certified Water Quality Monitor, and has measured and maintained daily records of the lake level for years, information that was crucial to DEP’s recent approval of CLA’s Water Level Management Plan. He has been tireless in meeting with town officials, state agency staff, the press, contractors, and attorneys to keep the effort moving forward, and continually encouraged the Board of the CLA even when the quest seemed hopeless and endless.
Lake Stewards of Maine Informational Webinars
I will post updates as new webinars are announced.
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Matt Scott is the founding father of Maine’s “Lakes Program”. He was the first biologist hired through Maine DEP in the early 1970’s, at which time he established a lake-focused research and protection unit that soon gained widespread recognition and respect. Matt was the driving force behind the formation of the first statewide citizen lake monitoring program, which continues to this day as Lake Stewards of Maine (formerly Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program). He currently lives in Belgrade.
Lloyd Irland has served in Maine state and local government, as a consultant, and is an author writing on a range of topics concerning Maine’s natural resources. He has recently advanced the research regarding changes in the phenology of ice cover on Maine lakes. Lloyd is currently writing a book on Maine’s wildland rivers, and lives on a tributary to Androscoggin Lake in Wayne.
Roberta is an aquatic ecologist and environmental educator. She has been active in the field of lake protection and community outreach in Maine for thirty years and has been instrumental in the creation and development of some of Maine’s most successful and long-standing lake education programs. Currently the Invasive Species Program Director for Lake Stewards of Maine, Roberta is the originator and coordinator of LSM’s internationally recognized Invasive Plant Patrol (IPP) program, through which close to 5,000 individuals (volunteers, professionals, agency personnel, students, teachers and others) have been trained to screen Maine waterbodies for the presence of invasive aquatic plants. Roberta is the principal author of the Maine Field Guide to Invasive Aquatic Plants and co-author of Citizens’ Guide to Invasive Aquatic Plant Management.
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Hatha Yoga Classes at Clary Lake Bed & Breakfast This Summer
Looking for something to do this summer near Clary Lake? There will be Hatha Yoga classes held at Clary Lake Bed & Breakfast this summer! The classes will be held outdoors on Saturdays from 10-11 am. Classes will start June 13th, and continue all Saturdays throughout the summer until the end of August, with the exception of the 4th of July.
This is the second year these classes have been held at Clary Lake B&B. For more information please contact Kathryn Jensen or Linda Gallion.
03 June 2020: Floating Loon Nest Found After 21 Years
Back in the spring of 1999 Bob Antognoni and Art Enos built a floating loon nest platform and installed it at the back of the deep cove on the north shore where our loons have traditionally liked to nest. There is no record of whether or not the loons ever used it for a nest site though it’s entirely likely. I’ve looked for the nest off and on over the years and have figured it was long gone. Imagine my surprise when I was out and about yesterday evening to see if I could find where the loons are nesting this year, and spied something floating. I rowed closer and sure enough, the loon nest is still floating after 21 years! Even the wire screen that supported the nest area is still intact. I believe it was constructed out of dry peeled cedar and bolted together with galvanized carriage bolts. Clearly it was built to last! Bob would no doubt be glad to know it has survived this long. Continue reading