Category Archives: News
09 May 2014 Lincoln County News: Owner Submits Water Level Plan for Clary Lake
There is an article by Dominik Lobkowicz in this week’s Lincoln County News on page 8 about the Water Level Management Plan (WLMP) submitted by Paul Kelley last week. The article does a pretty good job of covering the main issues surrounding the WLMP. According to the article, the Department will “work diligently to complete a thorough review in a timely manner” and that “any deficiencies will be identified and an opportunity provided to correct them.” The article does not appear in the public version of the Lincoln County News Online. I recommend those of you who can, buy a copy of this week’s paper. For those of you who can’t, I scanned a copy of the article:
The article goes on to state that “attempts by PPM to court the Clary Lake Association … failed to yield a secondary designee.” Right. Well I was on the receiving end of Mr. Kelley’s attempts to “court” the Association. If Mr. Kelley really wanted us to assume that role, he sure went about it wrong. All he succeeded in doing was to discourage us from taking on that role. I’ve already posted about how he tried to “court” the towns of Whitefield and Jefferson. They wouldn’t take the job either.
08 May 2014: New Clary Lake Association page on Google+
Hi All! I have created a new Clary Lake Association page on Google+ to replace the original “Community” page. There are several reasons for doing this, the primary one being that I can’t automagically add website posts to the Community page, but I can to the new one. Otherwise, the pages look about the same. Currently website posts here are automatically posted to my personal George Fergusson Google+ page as public posts and to get them posted on the Community page requires I do it manually. Sadly, I don’t have the time or inclination to do that so there hasn’t been much happening there. Incidentally, the posting goes both ways, though not automatically: Google+ posts can be easily embedded on this site. How cool is that?
It might take a few tries to get the automatic posting working. We’ll see. Here’s the link to the new page:
https://plus.google.com/106016569430460657201/posts
Just a reminder, the Association has a Facebook page too. The Association’s Community page is going away soon. If you are among those that have posted stuff on the Community page (you know who you are) please feel free to repost it on the new page. Thanks!
07 May 2014: Two photo additions to Chase Family Archive
I’ve added two new photos to the Chase Family Archive that Tim Chase gave me the other day. They were taken by his father Chester Chase, owner of the Clary Lake dam, during a heavy runoff event in June of 1984. We already had one picture in the archive from of that event but it was undated. These new photographs have the date “June 1984” written on the back in Chester’s characteristic hand writing.
These pictures show a significant runoff event. Checking the Weather Underground archives for 1984, it appears about 7.72″ of rain fell between May 26th and June 2nd that spring, which I reckon would be more than enough rain to account for the flow we’re seeing in these photographs. It is interesting to note that even with the water level this high, it is still over a foot below the official FEMA flood elevation for Clary Lake of 153.6′ which corresponds to the top of the concrete pier on top of the dam. This suggests that even this water level, as high as it was, was not considered a “flood” event in a technical sense.
There are a few other pictures in the Chase Family Archive showing extreme high water including an aerial photograph clearly showing water pouring over the dam and I would imagine that these are all taken about the same time.
06 May 2014: PPM’s Proposed Water Level Management Plan
The first milestone of the Clary Lake Water Level Order was the May 1st submission of a Water Level Management Plan (WLMP). I was originally told by a DEP staff person that the WLMP was not going to be released until it had been “reviewed and approved” by the Department. Apparently I was misinformed as according to Project Manager Beth Callahan who I spoke to earlier today, the document is in deed “public” information. According to Beth Callahan, the Department will review the submission and issue a Procedural Order (of the sort we’re used to seeing) to the Service List with the Department findings. She didn’t have any idea when that was likely to happen.
The document is 13 pages and I’ve only had the time to glance over it. However, from what I’ve read so far, I’m guessing DEP won’t be “approving” it anytime soon. I will refrain from further comment at this time until I have had a chance to read it over more carefully.
02 May 2014: About that Water Level Management Plan…
If you’re eagerly awaiting the water level management plan now that the deadline for its submission has passed, you’re not alone! Several people have asked “where’s the plan?” Careful reading of the specification for the Water Level Management Plan in the water level order suggests we should not hold our breath waiting for the plan. From the Order (emphasis added):
5. The owner of the dam shall submit a Water Level Management Plan to the Department for review and approval no later than May 1, 2014.”
So the plan needs to be reviewed by DEP and approved before it is accepted and before we get a copy. No telling how long this could take. Further on it says (emphasis added):
The final Water Level Management Plan shall be made available by the owner of the dam to all littoral and riparian landowners for review upon request. A copy of the final plan shall be distributed to the Town of Jefferson and the town of Whitefield.
So the Towns will only get a copy when it’s been approved and no where does it say Kelley has to actually provide a copy to anyone who asks for it, only that it shall be “made available for review upon request” and at that only to littoral and riparian landowners. It remains to be seen how Mr. Kelley will choose to interpret the above language.
So patience is the word of the day. I’m sure it will be a fine plan, and worth waiting for. When the plan has been approved (we’ll let you know) it will be available at your respective Town offices.
28 April 2014: DRAFT Branch Pond Water Level Order issued!!
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has issued a DRAFT water level order for Branch Pond located in Palermo and China. There is, as usual, a 5 day comment period ending this coming May 5th. This is especially good news considering everyone thought that DEP would hold off on issuing the the Branch Pond water level order until the outcome of the appeal of the Clary Lake water level was known. Well, obviously, everyone thought wrong.
The Branch Pond water level petition was originally filed back in 2008 but was put on hold for 3 years. I’ve been following the Branch Pond petition since it became active again back in December 2012.
Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association launches their Watershed Survey
Back around the beginning of April I posted about how the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association (DLWA) is gearing up to conduct a Watershed Survey. To kick it off they scheduled a workshop to train volunteers how to identify, describe, and characterize typical non-point sources of pollution. When I learned about the training I contacted Garrison Beck, Senior Program Manager at DLWA to see about sitting in on the training. He thought it was a fine idea. The workshop was scheduled for April 26th at the DLWA headquarters over on Damariscotta Lake.
Yesterday Colin Caissie and I attended the training session. There were a couple of dozen people there including a number of technical folks from DEP and some other DLWA members who had been previously trained. It started at 9AM and we spent the first 2.5 hours being lectured to about types of erosion and typical mitigation techniques, and then we broke out into groups of 3-4 volunteers and a technical lead person and then headed out for 3+ hours of field work. We headed for home a little after 3 PM having.
A non-point-source (NPS) watershed survey is all about locating and categorizing soil erosion- type, size, severity, etc., and making recommendations for how to go about mitigating it. It was a totally worthwhile experience and I’m glad I went. I told Garrison that when/if I got a chance in the next month I’d come down and spend a few hours working on the survey. They need all the help they can get given the size of their task: Damariscotta Lake watershed is about 29,700 acres (46.5 square miles) compared to Clary Lake’s 6,272 acres (9.8 square miles) and they have THOUSANDS of lakefront properties to evaluate whereas we have 108. A daunting task. Their goal is to get the entire watershed surveyed by the end of May and they’re going to need a lot of help to meet that goal. I’ll let folks know if/when I decide to go down and help out in case anyone wants to go along for the ride and learn something about identifying, categorizing, and mitigating non-point source pollution sites.
I had hoped to learn more about phosphorus transport mechanisms. I guess I’m going to have to do some more research on my own. The Clary Lake Association conducted a watershed survey and we’re gearing up to conduct an update later this year. So far there are about 10 Association members signed up to work on the survey. If anyone wants to get involved in this initiative, send me an email or use our Contact Form.
Lake Water Quality Monitoring Resumes in 2014
David Hodsdon and Jack Holland have resumed lake water quality monitoring as of last Friday, the 25th of April. This is about average- they like to get some data in April if at all possible. In addition to the regular secchi disk and dissolved oxygen data they also took a water sample for phosphorus testing. Jack didn’t have his boat in the water yet so I took them out in my boat. I took a few pictures; the wind was blowing about 10 miles an hour and it was pretty chilly! Official test results will be posted to the Clary Lake Water Monitoring Data page in a few days.
The phosphorus data is particularly important to collect but getting a water sample analyzed by the State costs $25 a pop. Because of the cost, David and Jack have taken only 
about 3 samples a year. We’re experimenting with a much cheaper do-it-yourself phosphorus test kit but the jury is still out on whether it will be sufficiently accurate to be useful. Monitoring phosphorus levels is important because it is a direct indicator of the likelihood of the lake experiencing an algae bloom. Most of you are aware that we’ve been having late summer/early fall algae blooms for the past 3 years in large part due to lower water levels. The picture at left shows dead blue-green algae floating on the surface last fall. You’ll find more pictures in the Fall 2013 album.
I’ll be filling in for David Hodsdon for a few months this summer while he’s on vacation and I’ve decided to get my Volunteer Water Monitor Certification as well.
24 April 2014 Lincoln County News: Jefferson Selectmen Say ‘No’ To Being Clary Lake Dam Backup
Paul Kelley appeared before the Jefferson Selectmen last Tuesday night to see if they’d be willing to take on the role of secondary designee of the Clary Lake dam. They said no. I didn’t bother to go to the meeting, having attended a similar meeting with the Whitefield Select Board the previous week (which I wrote about here) but Lincoln County News reporter Dominik Lobkowicz was there and he has reported on the meeting in this week’s Lincoln County News:
Jefferson Selectmen Say ‘No’ To Being Clary Lake Dam Backup
The Selectmen’s decision came as no surprise to anyone. Kelley has also extended his offer to the Clary Lake Association. The Association Board is currently considering a response to his request.
17 April 2014 Lincoln County News: Clary Lake Dam representative says he’d ‘bail’ if Whitefield assumes responsibilities
Paul Kelley attended the Whitefield Selectman’s meeting last Tuesday night to see if the Town would be willing to assume responsibility for the operation of the Clary Lake Dam and its water control features in the event of an emergency. You may recall that finding a designee is was requirement “H” of the Water Level Management Plan called for in the Clary Lake Water Level Order. The Order suggested that such secondary designees may include but are not limited to the Town of Jefferson, the Town of Whitefield or the Clary Lake Association. As usual, Lincoln County News reporter Kathy Onorato was there covering the excitement:
Clary Lake Dam representative says he’d ‘bail’ if Whitefield assumes responsibilities
16 April 2014: Clary Webcam Operational Again
The Clary Webcam is back in operation, the weather is warm enough to mostly keep my window from fogging up. Experience has shown this webcam system to be obstinate and unreliable so if you click on the link and see and old image, a broken image, or no image at all, don’t be surprised! Also, the software also uses a lot of system resources and I’m likely to shut it down when I’m actually working on my computer. For that matter, sometimes it just shuts itself down without notice. That said, I’ll try and keep it going as much as possible except when I don’t, and at night. I may see if I can find a reliable wireless standalone outdoor weather-proof camera later this year.
02 April 2014: Water Level Measurements Resumed
I stopped making water level measurements back on February 6th as it became just too much trouble to continue the daily grind, plus I got sick and then there was the cold… and the interminable snow storms… and did I mention it was cold? Anyways, with what passes for Spring this year now apparently firmly in place and with the snow disappearing and the ice around the edges melting, I’ve resumed making water level measurements as of yesterday, April 1st. No fooling!
The lake is now about 2″ higher than it was on February 6th when I left off. Judging from the appearance of the ice around the shore, the lake spent most of the last 2 winter months hovering between 40″ and 48″ below the top of the dam even though the dam’s gate has been wide open. I don’t think the level ever fell as low as it did during the winters of 2012 and 2013 when it dropped to 5′ below the top of the dam. When I left off making level measurements I also left off keeping track of precipitation. I plan to scarf that information for the last 2 months from the Weather Underground site and update my database so we can continue to monitor monthly and yearly precipitation totals.
30 March 2013: Avian Haven’s 2013 Year End Report
The folks at Avian Haven have completed their 2013 year end report and as usual it is a visually stunning and inspiring document making for a fascinating read. Dianne Winn and Marc Payne cared for 1556 birds of all sorts last year, 30 of them carry-overs from the year before. Their dedication and commitment to bird rehabilitation is commendable, and well worthy of both your appreciation and support. Year end reports as far back as 2004 are available on their website:
We’ve posted about Avian Haven before including Avian Haven 2013 Bird Pictures. You also might be interested in “liking” their facebook page:
23 March 2014: Update on Kelley’s Petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance
Remember Paul Kelley’s second Petition for release from dam ownership or water level maintenance, filed back on September 27, 2013? Well probably not! Most people have forgotten about it, and with good reason. After all, it is perfectly clear that Kelley has no intention of selling the dam and equally obvious that he isn’t going to get his desperately wished-for breach order. Nonetheless his petition is still alive, and the clock is ticking: he has until this Wednesday, March 26th, to either conclude the petition by filing a consultation report with the Department of Environmental Protection or file for his one-time, 180 day extension as provided for by statute.
You’d think Kelley was already busy enough with the water level order and it’s looming deadlines to contend with, the upcoming land use mediation to prepare for, and his pending administrative appeal to worry about, that he’d drop this petition charade to concentrate on more important things. However, I fully expect that he will request the 180 day extension just to keep his petition alive for another 6 months. Check back here in a few days to see if I’m right.
Update: 26 March 2014: So I was right.
20 March 2014: Order For A Stay Of Civil Proceedings
The Attorney General’s office sent me a copy of an Order for a Stay of Civil Proceedings in the matter of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC and Aquafortis Associates LLC v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Docket No. AP-14-1. The parties jointly requested this stay so that they can pursue mediation under the Land Use Mediation Program pursuant to Title 5 §3341. What this means in ordinary speak is that the administrative appeal of the Department water level order is being put on hold while the parties engage in mediated discussions in an attempt to resolve this matter. At the conclusion of mediation the results, or lack thereof, will be reported back to Superior Court. Continue reading
15 March 2013: Patricia Aho, Commissioner of the DEP on the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program
I was pleased to see the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, Patricia Aho, recognize the Maine Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program on her official blog. Jack Holland brought this to my attention the other day with the comment “I would agree with the “trained” statement, but question the “provided with equipment” statement. The Clary Lake Association has been a participating member of the VLMP since the very start of the program back in 1975. See our Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program page for more information.
December 30, 2013
Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program
I was excited to meet with Scott Williams and Roberta Hill of the Maine Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program (VLMP) earlier this month. Often noted nationally as the gold-standard of citizen lakes monitoring, VLMP is a network of over 1,000 volunteers located across the state that have been trained and provided with equipment to collect data from Maine lakes. Their scientific data on water quality indicators is critical assistance for DEP. We cannot do our work without VLMP and rely on their quality science, passion and training to ensure thousands of volunteers (some of whom count their service in decades!) are engaged and eager to assist each year. With a very small budget, the work of VLMP is an outstanding service to Maine by being at the forefront of keeping our lakes healthy and safe. DEP is proud to support VLMP’s work to protect Maine’s lakes and look forward to continuing this successful partnership.
via Commissioner’s Corner, Office of the Commissioner, Maine DEP.
06 March 2014 Kennebec Journal: Owner of Clary Lake Dam in Whitefield files suit in court
There is an article about Pleasant Pond Mill LLC’s appeal of the Clary Lake water level order in today’s Kennebec Journal, written by Paul Koenig. Mr. Koenig interviewed Paul Kelley for the story. One statement in particular is worth quoting here:
“He said his company filed suit in superior court instead of with the appeals board because it wanted a final ruling on the dispute.”
This indicates that this really is the last stand for Kelley and that an appeal to the Maine Supreme Court is not in the cards. When he loses this appeal, he’ll be dead in the water. What a pleasant thought that is.
Owner of Clary Lake Dam in Whitefield files suit in court
[Archived copy]:
Owner of Clary Lake Dam in Whitefield files suit in court
05 March 2014 Lincoln County News: Clary Lake Dam Owners Seek to Have Water Level Order Vacated
There is an article in this week’s Lincoln County News about the appeal filed by Pleasant Pond Mill LLC in Lincoln County Superior court. The article, written by Dominik Lobkowicz, does a pretty good job of distilling the 27 page filing into something manageable. I spoke to Mr. Lobkowicz yesterday afternoon shortly after receiving word of the filing but before I’d had a chance to look it over. I sent him some of my thoughts on it in an email last night, a few of which made it into the paper. Those that didn’t are probably best left unpublished anyways.
Clary Lake Dam Owners Seek to Have Water Level Order Vacated
[Archived Copy]:
Clary Lake Dam Owners Seek to Have Water Level Order Vacated
05 February 2014 Lincoln County News: New Clary Lake Group aimed at water level order compliance
There’s a article in this week’s Lincoln County News by Dominik Lobkowicz about the Clary Dam Project. I was interviewed on the phone yesterday at length. It’s a good article I think, it captures my chagrin without making me feel stupid. Yes, this is an exercise in faith. No we have no idea when we might end up owning the dam. Yes we’re certain we will.
New Clary Lake Group aimed at water level order compliance
My letter to the editor is in the same issue. It appears to be identical to what I’ve already posted in A Letter to the Editor and thoughts on the Water Level Order.