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.
For me, September wasn’t so much about the water level as it was about the water quality which totally sucks in comparison with recent years. As I sit in my upstairs office writing this post, I’m looking out my window at a decidedly green and murky lake, and it saddens me deeply. Our lake is suffering from the worst cyanobacterial algal bloom since 2015 and as bad as it is now, with an average secchi disk reading of around 2.3 meters (7.5 feet), it could get so much worse; in the summer of 2015 we had secchi disk readings under 2 meters (see all our water quality data back to 2012 on our Clary Lake Water Monitoring Data page).
I’ve posted twice about this alarming development, first on September 5th and again just a few days ago on September 27th. Yesterday I collected a jar of lake water and some of that green scum (picture at left) and delivered it to DEP for testing and analysis. They’ll identify the particular type of cyanobacteria that is plaguing us and the type and toxicity of the cyanotoxins that are being produced. I’ll let you know what they find out.
This should be a wakeup call for everyone on and around Clary Lake. There is simply too much Phosphorus making it’s way into our lake water and we have to do something about it soon, or what we’ve seen this fall will become a yearly summertime occurrence. We don’t want Clary Lake to turn into another Three Mile Pond or Sabattus Pond where algae blooms and green murky water is a year-round thing. The Clary Lake Association Board has been discussing this and we’re developing an action plan to address this issue. Stay tuned to find out what you can do to help.
Oh this is sad news. I’m sure all of us will do whatever we have to do to prevent these algae blooms from becoming a common occurrence. Thanks for keeping us informed!
It’s very unpleasant. The only good news so far is that according to Linda Bacon at DEP, there are no microcystin poisons associated with the bloom. Small consolation, but it’s something. At least we don’t have to worry about our pets being poisoned. I suppose that could change in the future.