Category Archives: News

News from around the lake.

02 January 2016: The Year In Review

State Representative Deb Sanderson contemplating the Clary Lake dam during a site visit on August 10th. Photograph by George Fergusson

With 2015 behind us, now is a good time to look back and reflect on the year past, what has happened, and what we have, and have not managed to get done. It was a landmark year in a lot of ways, one that saw a level of activity and engagement on the part of the Clary Lake Association and Board that resulted in some significant accomplishments. That said, our primary goal of reaching an equitable settlement with Mr. Kelley and Mr. Smith and resolving the Clary Lake water level crisis has so far eluded us, but certainly not for lack of trying. The Board met 15 times over the course of the past year and spent a considerable amount of time and money pursuing a settlement, so far to no avail. We’re still trying, and while there remains the slightest chance of an equitable settlement, will continue to try, because settling represents the fastest way of resolving the current crisis and restoring Clary Lake and it’s water level to its former status.

While remaining engaged in settlement efforts this past year, we have also been doing everything we could to support the State and the DEP in their legal defense of the Water Level Order (WLO) which has been under concerted attack by the dam and mill owners since it was issued in late January 2014. While I’m confident that the State will ultimately prevail in their battle, the process will take a long time and it will not be pretty. Going forward, simply sitting back and watching the show may not be possible: even with the State doing the heavy legal lifting, the situation may arise in the future where the Association is called upon to play a more active role in the proceedings either by intervening in the anticipated appeal of enforcement action, or in some other manner. Such involvement will not be without costs. The cost of litigation avoided must therefore be considered in any negotiation. Continue reading →

01 January 2016: December 2015 Water Level Chart Archived

I’ve archived the December 2015 Water Level Chart (at left). The most notable thing about it is that for the first time since the Clary Lake Water Level Order (WLO) was issued in late January 2014 the lake level is more or less where it should be this time of year. I already wrote about this back on December 27th so I won’t say more about it now. You’ll also notice the area of the chart between 0″ and 24″ below the top of the dam (left hand scale) is now shaded to make it easier to see when the lake level (red line) is within the allowable 24″ range.

We received 4.7″ of precipitation in December, a little more than normal. However, the total precipitation for the year of 36.8″ was still 7.2″ (or about 2 months worth) short of the 44″ we typically receive in a normal year. For comparison we were a little over in 2014 (46.9″) and a little under in 2013 (40.2″).

It remains to be seen where the lake level it going to go this winter. As of yesterday afternoon the gate was still about 95% closed and if it remains that way the lake level should remain in the “allowable” range until spring. Normally, with much of the winter precipitation tied up in the form of ice and snow, runoff is usually less during the winter months. With the hole in the dam letting out more water than the gate, it is entirely likely the lake level will fall below 24″ before long. Time will tell.

27 December 2015 VIDEO: Clary Lake Dam Flows

[dropcap]With[/dropcap] the lake level up around -22″ below the top of the dam, even with the gate about 95% closed there is still a lot of water flowing out of the lake. However, judging from this video, there is even more water flowing through the hole in the dam which is located above and to the left of the outlet pipe. The amount of water flowing through the cracks to the right is inconsequential.

27 December 2015: Lake Level now where it should be this time of year

The December 2015 water level chart for the day after Christmas showing the lake level has finally risen above -24″ below the top of the dam and is now in the allowable range for lake levels under the Clary Lake water level order.

[dropcap]Sometime[/dropcap] late on Christmas day the lake level, which has been gradually rising for the past few weeks, finally rose above -24″ below the top of the dam. This marks the first time since the Clary Lake Water Level Order was issued in late January of 2014 that the lake level has actually been at or near where it is should be for a particular time of year. Yes, it has been higher a few times in the past few years, and in fact it came within 12″ of the top of the dam last spring, but at that time it was still a foot short of where it should have been at ice out. And while it’s nice to see the lake more or less where it should be going into winter (at or near 2 feet below the top of the dam), we could really have used the water this past summer when the lake sat for months at historic lows, to everyone’s dismay. Continue reading →

10 December 2015: Maine VLMP Fall 2015 Newsletter now available

The Maine Volunteer Lake Monitor Program’s Fall 2015 newsletter “The Water Column” is now available for download or viewing online. It’s a good read.

The Clary Lake Association is a contributing member of the Maine VLMP and has been actively supporting the VLMP and collecting water quality data on Clary Lake since 1975.

25 November 2015: Full Moon rising over Clary Lake captured on Clary Cam2

I mentioned to David Hodsdon earlier today that tonight’s full moon was going to rise on a true azimuth of about 68.7° or about 10° to the left of the current edge of the field of view of Clary Cam2. David decided to adjust where the camera pointed this afternoon so as to capture the full moon rising. The picture at left is the result. The moon doesn’t rise in the same place each month. The point at which it crosses the horizon on it’s way up moves towards the north in the summer and fall and back towards the south in the winter and spring. By next June it will be rising over the State boat launch as seen from the location of Clary Cam2.

There are a few more pictures of this moon rise in the Webcam Picture Gallery. It’s possible that Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will be visible tomorrow morning about 4:30 AM. I won’t be up then but Clary Cam2 will start taking pictures at 4:00 AM. We’ll see what it captures.

17 November 2015: New Clary WebCam added to the site

Clary_Cam2

We now have a second web camera on Clary Lake! David Hodsdon decided he wanted to set up a web camera on his own shoreline so he bought one and today we got it hooked up and running. It’s identical to mine which made the back-end setup a breeze. The new camera is designated Clary Cam 2 (the original is Clary Cam 1) and it is attached to a tree on the shore about 150′ east of Hodsdon’s Point and it is looking directly towards the State boat launch which bears just about exactly East South East (114° True) from the camera. This means it will be capturing sunrises in the fall and spring as well as the occasional moon rise. Like the original camera, this one uploads a picture to the website every 2 minutes from 4:00 AM until 9:58 PM every day and 7 days worth of images are stored in an archive that you can peruse with a browser.

I’ve made a new Clary Lake WebCams page that shows both current camera images side by side. You’ll find the page listed under the Pictures navigation menu heading. You can click on the pictures for full sized versions, or you can click on the Camera link at the top of each image and go to that camera’s own page.

Both cameras allow people to login to them to view remote, real-time video. See the individual Camera pages for Clary Cam 1 or Clary Cam 2 for instructions.

Meeting Reminder: Property Tax Abatement Information Meeting this Tuesday 11/17

[dropcap]Just[/dropcap] a quick reminder that the Whitefield Select Board will be holding an informational meeting at 6:00 PM this coming Tuesday November 17th for people who filed property tax abatement requests this past fall. The meeting will be held at the Whitefield Fire & Rescue building, Townhouse Road (map). This Select Board sent a letter last week to interested parties which was posted here (see below).

10 November 2015: Whitefield responds to Clary Lake shore owner abatement requests

[dropcap]The[/dropcap] Whitefield Select Board is sending the following letter to Clary Lake shore owners that filed property tax abatement forms recently. According to the letter, all the abatement requests were made too late to apply to the 2014/2015 tax year, a mistake I expect will be easy to remedy. It does appear that the Whitefield Board members are being proactive and showing concern and understanding for the situation faced by Clary Lake shore owners.

Whitefield_abatement_response_11-10-2015

05 November 2015: Whitefield Selectmen to Hold Meeting on Clary Lake Abatement Requests

There is an article in this week’s Lincoln County News by staff reporter Abigail Adams about an informational meeting to be held by the Whitefield Selectmen for Clary Lake shore owners who filed property tax abatement requests this past fall due to the impact low lake levels have had on their property values. The meeting will be held on November 17th at the Select Board’s regularly scheduled Tuesday night board meeting. The article states that the aim of the meeting is to educate landowners about the town’s current valuation methods for waterfront property. Apparently some of the abatement requests were not considered because they were received after the deadline for filing them. Abatement requests have to be filed within 185 days of when the taxes are committed.

Assessor’s Agent Tom Hayes who is quite familiar with the water level issue plaguing lake shore owners stated that Whitefield’s valuation for shore front property is already “as low as it gets.” This is small consolation to property owners who can’t deploy their docks, launch their boats, go swimming, or otherwise use and enjoy the lake in the manner in which they have become accustomed. People trying to sell their property are finding it almost impossible because of the low water conditions on their shoreline. The low water conditions which have persisted more or less continuously for the last 4 years were especially worse this past summer due to the extremely dry conditions with the lake reaching levels lower than anyone can remember.

Whitefield Selectmen to Hold Meeting on Clary Lake Abatement Requests

Continue reading →

02 November 2015: New “Minimum Flows Explained” Page

Screen shot from the StreamStats program showing Clary Lake and the various streams making up the watershed.

I’ve been working on a page that explains minimum flows for a while now, and I guess it’s close enough to done for general consumption. I’ll update it from time to time as my understanding of this subject grows or new information becomes available. You’ll find the page under the Programs/Education main menu heading. Here’s a link to it:

Minimum Flows Explained

The picture at left is from the new USGS StreamStats hydrology mapping system, a really cool web-based application that lets you investigate watershed and stream flow data, from that small stream flowing through your back yard to the 145 square mile Sheepscot River drainage basin just like you knew what you were doing. I discuss the StreamStats program and how it might be used on the Minimum Flows Explained page.

Questions or comments are welcome. If anyone finds any errors or broken links please let me know.

31 October 2015: October 2015 Water Level Chart Archived

[dropcap]I’ve[/dropcap] archived the October 2015 water level chart (at left). The most notable thing about it is that sometime during the weekend of October 17/18 the gate on the dam was almost completely closed. The gate had been wide open since October 13, 2012. The gate still remains open about 3″ or 4″ or so, presumably so as to provide the minimum outlet flows calculated for Clary Lake and required in the Clary Lake water level order (WLO). Regrettably, the gate opening still allowed too much water to be released as the lake level continued to fall albeit at a somewhat slower than usual rate: the lake level dropped 0.15′ (1.80″) over the next 10 days (0.18″ per day; normal for this water level would be 0.25″ per day) until the 29th when we received 2.3″ of rain in one intense 12 hour storm. That the lake continued to fall after the gate was lowered clearly indicates that outflows from the dam exceeded inflows into the lake by measurable amount, which means too much water was being released. In my copious spare time I’ve been working on a post about minimum flows but it’s not ready so I’m not going go into them now. Minimum flows are fully explained in the Department of Environmental Protection Rules, Chapter 587: IN-STREAM FLOWS AND LAKE AND POND WATER LEVELS. While that’s not an easy document to wade through, it makes for interesting reading and fully explains the the purpose of minimum flows.

[dropcap]At[/dropcap] 45.84″ below the top of the dam, the lake level is higher now than it’s been since May 21st of this year. As high it seems that is still more than 2′ lower than it should be this time of year (no more than 2′ below the top of the dam). The 2.3″ rainstorm on the 29th brought the lake level up 8.76″ for a runoff multiplier of 3.8x which is still a little low indicating that runoff is somewhat reduced because the ground is still relatively dry and a lot of the rain is soaking in rather than running off. Average yearly rainfall for our area is about 42″ and as of the end of October, we’ve received only 29.41″ or more than 12″ less than normal, and only 2 months to make up the difference. Unlikely.

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] hate taking my boat out and I usually put off hauling out in the fall as long as I can. I think however I will take advantage of this increased lake level and haul my boat out tomorrow.

30 October 2015: Grand Army Weather station back online

Tim Chase’s Grand Army Weather Station and Web Cam have been offline since sometime in 2013. Last month I helped Tim get his Web Cam back up and running, and since then he’s been working at getting his new Grand Army Weather Station hardware set up, wired, and calibrated. Today we spent the afternoon working together and got his weather station updating his website again. We’ve got plans to give his site a face lift and add some additional functions and features later this winter. Stay tuned.

http://www.grandarmyweather.com/

The weather data is uploaded to the website every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. It’s great to have a local weather station to refer to again, and I’ll probably use a some of the data on this site, and likely will start using the precipitation data on the Clary Lake water level charts.

24 October 2015: The DLWA, SVCA, HVNC, and SWLA Join Forces

[dropcap]The[/dropcap] Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association, the Hidden Valley Nature Center, the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association, and the Sheepscot Wellspring Land Alliance have joined forces and formed a new organization, Midcoast Conservancy. Clary Lake is smack in the middle of the aggregate land area covered by this new organization. This alliance has been coming together slowly over the past year and it sounds like they’re now finalizing the transition. The following is from an announcement email I received from the HVNC a couple of days ago.

Displaying

Meet Midcoast Conservancy!

Our new name is just the beginning of an exciting period of transition

We listened to your input. We asked our supporters to weigh in on the new name of our merged organization and we received over 50 suggested names, nearly 400 responses to our survey, and nearly 200 helpful comments. Thank you! In addition we sought out help from marketing experts. All this pointed us back to Midcoast Conservancy! Continue reading →

23 October 2015: DEP denies PPM, AQF request to stay enforcement action

[dropcap]In[/dropcap] a 5 page letter issued just yesterday, the Department of Environmental Protection has denied the request by PretiFlaherty lawyers that they stay their enforcement action. The request for the stay was made in response to the recently issued Notice of Violation (EIS #2015-006-L) and was made on behalf of Clary Lake dam owner Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM) and Clary Mill owner Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF, collectively Petitioners) by letter dated October 8th. The Department is standing firm on their decision to enforce the Clary Lake water level order (WLO) at this time, citing overwhelming evidence of violations by the dam owner. The letter mentioned a September 22nd site visit by Department staff at which time they noted among other things, extreme low water conditions, declining wetland habitat, and a useless State boat launch. The letter also mentions and cites concerns raised in the letter jointly written by Representative Deb Sanderson and Senator Chris Johnson, and in the letter from the Whitefield Select Board, both of which appear to have been carefully considered in the Department’s decision to take action at this time. Continue reading →

22 October 2015 Lincoln County News: DEP Issues Notice of Violation of Clary Lake Water Level Order

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] number of newsworthy things have happened this week, and of course I’ve been away and unable to update the website in a timely fashion. I’ll get caught up as soon as I can. To start, there is a lengthy article in this week’s Lincoln County News by staff writer Abigail Adams about DEP’s September 28th Notice of Violation. The article also covers the October 8th response filed by PretiFlaherty attorneys for Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM) and Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) requesting the Department stay (put on hold) their enforcement action, pending the outcome of the appeal of the Water Level Order (WLO) in Lincoln County Superior Court. Ms. Adams interviewed a number of people for the story and includes quotes from Paul Kelley, Richard Smith, PretiFlaherty litigator Tim Connolly, and DEP spokesperson David Madore. I was also interviewed for the article, and accurately quoted.

The article contains a couple of misstatements worth pointing out. First the article states: “AquaFortis Associates was named alongside Pleasant Pond Mill in the petition, however the water level order issued in January 2014 only named Pleasant Pond Mill.” In fact, Aquafortis Associates was both named in the petition AND, along with PPM, as a party subject to the final Water Level Order. Continue reading →

18 October 2015 Kennebec Journal: DEP issues violation notice on Clary Lake water level

[dropcap]There[/dropcap] is an article in today’s Kennebec Journal (and Morning Sentinel) by Central Maine Papers staff writer Jessica Lowell about the Notice of Violation issued by the Department of Environmental Protection on September 28th (see: DEP takes enforcement action, issues a Notice of Violation). The article is factually accurate and lists the specific violations in the NOV, namely:

failing to meet the 2014 water level order;
failing to submit a surveyed plan showing the normal high-water mark of Clary Lake;
failing to obtain DEP approval for a final water level management plan;
failing to install a lake gauge and file a report detailing the inspection results of its installation;
and failing to allow the lake to rise gradually between ice-out in 2015 until Aug. 1;

The article also states that Attorneys for Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM) and Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) contend that among other issues, complying with the notice of violation is impossible because it sets deadlines that cannot be met, noting that PPM has only 15 days to comply with the minimum flow provisions of the water level order and to “undertake all other steps necessary to prevent further dewatering of the lake and begin raising the level of the lake in compliance with the (water level order).

DEP issues violation notice on Clary Lake water level

I’ll post a link to an archived copy shortly.

13 October 2015: DEP takes enforcement action, issues a Notice of Violation

At long last, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has taken decisive action by issuing a Notice of Violation (EIS #2015-006-L) to Pleasant Pond Mill LLC (PPM, as the record owner of the Clary Lake dam), Paul A. Kelley, Jr., as former manager and sole member of PPM, Aquafortis Associates, LLC (AQF, as an entity asserting flowage rights), and Richard L. Smith, as manager and sole member of AQF. The Notice of Violation (NOV), issued on September 28, 2015, alleges that each day since at least October 1, 2014 constitutes a violation of the Water Level Order (WLO) and a separate offense. In addition to the NOV, the Department “retains its right to enforce its water level order by any other appropriate remedy, including, but not limited to, entering the dam premises to carry out the terms of the water level order.” Continue reading →

10 October 2015: Realtime access to Clary WebCam video now available

I’ve set up the Clary WebCam video feed to be accessible for remote viewing in real time over the internet. I mean, why not? If it turns out bandwidth usage is prohibitive or other problems materialize, I’ll shut it off but I seriously doubt we’ll have a problem. I can’t imagine too many people will want to camp out at their computers watching video of Clary Lake on the off chance they’ll see a bird fly by, or a fish jump, but you never can tell. The current static image, updated ever 2 minutes, will still be available on the WebCam page if that’s all you’re interested in.

There are various ways to connect to the camera. Regardless of which method you use to connect, you’ll have to login to the camera with the username guest and the password 123abc. Two easy ways to connect are: Continue reading →

09 October 2015: Clary Webcam back in operation

[dropcap]Thanks[/dropcap] to a generous donation from someone who wishes to remain anonymous, we have a new Clary Cam! It’s a Foscam model F19803P Outdoor Wireless IP camera (with 720P video) and it arrived this afternoon by UPS. I’ve been messing around with it at my desk this evening, and getting it configured. It is considerably more robust and sophisticated than the old camera (which was also a Foscam) but its software is pretty much identical which made the back end installation on the server a breeze. It was essentially a drop-in replacement. The old camera was actually an indoor webcam but it was quite happy to live outdoors under a small glass terrarium to keep the elements off it… this wasn’t a perfect arrangement. This new camera needs no such amenities. I expect I’ll have to wipe snow off the lens once in a while but otherwise it should be pretty much trouble free. Like the old camera, this on houses a 1.3 megapixel CCD with a 70° field of view generating pretty good looking 1280 x 720 pixel images.

Tonight the camera is sitting on my desk upstairs looking out the window- the picture above was taken this afternoon. I’ll install it outdoors tomorrow. I may or may not put it in the same place as the old camera: this camera has a better wireless receiver so where it is located is really limited to how long a power cord I decide to run. For now it’s going to upload a picture to the website every 2 minutes, and I may extend the hours of operation since this camera has an infrared light source which the manufacturer claims allows nighttime visibility up to 65′ (we’ll see how well that works). It can also be setup to allow people to login to the camera over the internet and view live video but I don’t think I’ll allow that because of the bandwidth requirements. Would be fun though…