16 May 2014: Pleasant Pond Mill LLC contemplating an Army Corps of Engineers NRPA Permit

According to information recently obtained from the Town of Whitefield, Pleasant Pond Mill LLC has requested an inter-agency, pre-application meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers and representatives of other State and Federal Agencies to discuss permitting issues surrounding the repair and/or ​replacement of the Clary Lake dam. A pre-application meeting is standard operating procedure when contemplating a project requiring an NRPA (National Resource Protection Act) permit. Mr. Kelley must be contemplating a major dam reconstruction project involving significant alteration of lots of fresh water wetlands and possible damage to the downstream ecology to require pursuing an NRPA tier 1, 2, or 3 permit, especially considering that back in 2011 he felt (and DEP agreed) that the repairs he contemplated required a simple Permit By Rule approach. What has changed?

I understand that this inter-agency pre-application meeting is tentatively scheduled for the 17th of June. This date incidentally is 2 weeks past the next upcoming Water Level Order deadline of June 2nd when Mr. Kelley is supposed to have submitted a survey of the historical normal high water line of Clary lake, and not quite one and a half months before the August 1st deadline by which time Mr. Kelley is to have completed dam repairs and installed a water level gauge. It’s going to be a busy summer for him!

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12 May 2014: Date set for 2014 Annual Clary Lake Association meeting

The Clary Lake Association Board met yesterday afternoon at the home of George and Margaret Fergusson to discuss, among other things, the upcoming Annual meeting. This year’s annual Clary Lake Association meeting will be Saturday August 2nd at 2:00 PM at the home of Ellis Percy and Joann Tribby. They live in the last house at end of the Madden Road in Jefferson. The rain date will be the next day, same time same place. The big item to be voted on at this year’s meeting will be the revised bylaws. You may recall that a Bylaws Committee was formed at last year’s meeting and charged with the responsibility of reviewing and revising the Association bylaws. The last time the bylaws were revised was in 2001 so they’re long overdue for an overhaul.

The Bylaws committee members have been busy this past winter making many necessary revisions; the proposed revised bylaws will be sent out to the membership for review (along with a proxy ballot for those members who won’t be able to make it to the meeting to vote) well in advance of the Annual meeting. At this time we’re planning to send them out with the Summer 2014 newsletter on or about the 15th of June. The proposed bylaws will also be posted here, perhaps along with a totally unofficial opinion poll to give people an opportunity to comment on them.

More meeting details, a program, and proposed agenda to follow. This event has been added to the Clary Lake Association Events Calendar. Stay tuned!

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

chase_archive13I’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.

chase_archive14These 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.

Proposed Water Level Management Plan

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.

01 May 2014: April Water Level Chart archived

3 waterlevelchart_April2014April brought the highest water levels we’ve seen in 3 years due in large part to melting snow and high runoff as a result of frozen ground though we ended the month with only 2.77″ of rain, well below the average about 4.39″.  The water level started out around -40″ below the top of the dam on the 1st of the month and got as high as -18.6″ below the top of the dam on April 17th. It has been falling since then and ended the month at -29.3″. The dam’s gate has been wide open all month.

The deadline for submitting the Water Level Management Plan called for in the Water Level Order was today. We can only assume Mr. Kelley met the deadline. Stay tuned.

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.

DRAFT Branch Pond Water Level Order

Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association launches their Watershed Survey

DLWA_NPS_Training_26April2014Back 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 water testingDavid 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 Algae bloomabout 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 KelleyPaul 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.

[Local Copy]

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 White​f​ield  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

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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.

Official Ice-Out Date: 14 April 2014

David Hodsdon makes the official determination of ice-in and ice-out on Clary Lake and according to him, ice-out occurred sometime between 4 and 5 pm on April 14th. His criteria for ice-out is all the ice out of all the coves. He also notes that the loons were back on the 12th, a fact I can confirm from my own observations. Even though it seems like a late spring, a look at the ice-in and ice-out records going back to 2001 show that this year’s date is about average.

It sure did go out fast once it started to go.

 

11 April 2014: The ice is melting!

img_20140411_154300Spring has arrived! I’m sure of it! Less than a week ago there were people ice fishing on the lake and at the time I speculated that it would be at least 3 weeks before the ice went out. Today, there’s a significant amount of open water on the north shore of the lake and the remaining ice looks very gray indeed. You can see the open water in the picture at left. What a difference a week makes! Now I’m thinking the ice will be gone in another week or less. We’ll see. There is open water around the edge of much of the lake. racket. I plan to launch my kayak this weekend and see if I can make it up to the channel. You can also see piles of white here and there around the lake where the wind has driven the ice up on to the shore. I recall this happening on my shoreline early one winter some years ago, the ice actually piled up 4′-5′ thick and it made an awful racket!

You may have notice that the lake level is higher now than it has been for some time. In fact, it’s only been this high 2 other times in the last 3 years. As high as it seems however, it’s still 20″ below the top of the dam. Though the gate is open, the ground where not frozen is saturated and most precipitation runs right off. We’ve received only 1.21″ of rain so far this month but the lake came up 20″ for a runoff multiplier of about 16x. I think a more reasonable multiplier would be 10x as snow melt accounts for about 7″ of that rise.

There is almost 3.5′ of water over the foot of the ramp at the State Boat Launch, more than a foot more than the design minimum so those of you so inclined to launch your boats this spring shouldn’t have too much trouble though don’t expect the water level to remain high this summer. We’ll see what the fall brings.

I posted the above picture in the Winter 2014 album. I should have posted it in the Spring 2014 album, but there isn’t one yet. I’ll get right on that.

05 April 2014: Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association gearing up for a Watershed Survey

Jack Holland forwarded me a copy of a Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association (DLWA) notice about an upcoming workshop they’re giving intended to train volunteers to identify and categorize Non-Point-Source (NPS) pollution sites. The end goal is performing a Watershed Survey for Damariscotta Lake, a truly daunting task give the size of Damariscotta Lake’s wateshed. The Clary Lake Association performed such a watershed survey for Clary Lake back in 2001 (see our Clary Lake Watershed Survey Basemap) and at last year’s Annual Meeting we formed an ad-hoc committee to work to update that survey in the near future.  Some of our NPS committee members will need some training too so I’ve written to Garrison Beck to see if we can participate in the training. I’ll let you know what I find out. Here’s the email notice:

Do you want to help protect the water quality of Damariscotta Lake? Then join us on Saturday, April 26th from 9am – 3pm at DLWA for training needed to be part a team that will find and locate harmful sources of pollution.   

After the training, you will work with DLWA staff and other volunteers to conduct a complete survey of the Damariscotta Lake Watershed looking for sites of non-point source pollution. In brief, non-point source pollution is all pollution in the watershed that cannot be attributed to a single point (ex. a pipe). This pollution comes mostly in the form of erosion and runoff from the land, which carries nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen into the lake and its tributaries.

Our watershed is over 30 square miles and we need your help! Your job would entail walking the near-shore area on Damariscotta Lake and driving watershed roads looking for sites of erosion and runoff. Our goal is to complete the entire survey within one month of the training!

If you are interested in attending the training or assisting in any other way, please contact Garrison Beck at 207-549-3836 or garrison@dlwa.org.