June 23 – 29, 2023Vol. 25, No. 2

We’re in Great Shape, If You Like Water

Dam at Belgrade Lakes Village, on the stream that flows from Great Pond into Long Pond.

by Dick Greennan

As of this writing, we are happy to report that all of our pond water levels are in great shape, if you like water! Actually, a little bit higher than we would like no thanks to these unrelenting showers! It hasn’t been exactly Chamber of Commerce weather but enough is enough.

I wish the showers took place at night while I was sleeping, but noooooo. Great Pond’s Village dam is currently 3.24″ above full pond with one gate opened just 6″. Long Pond’s Wings Mill dam is right at 2.88″, also above full pond with one gate opened up one foot. Salmon/McGrath is now 1″ above full pond with its calibrated valve set to the mandated 1 cubic foot pers second flow. Our neighbors on Messalonskee are actually down 2.52″ below full which is just a fact of life with their electricity generation needs. Although NOAA and the “experts” are still calling for a summer of 26% less precipitation, we’ll remain vigilant in our “save the water” mode with all of our gates being closed when at all possible.

Precipitation for the past ten days was a whopping 2.48″ and we are looking at still 1.49″ for the next ten days, which is still way above average. FYI, our normal weekly precipitation during the summer is supposed to be 0.875″. Although the long-term forecast is calling for an average 20% less precipitation which is slightly better than what they forecasted for the past four years, all remains good news for our farmers, wells, gardens and of course, our lakes. We’ll take what we can get — as if we have a choice!

If you have a particular questions regarding our dams and/or water levels, please email your inquiry to dickgreenan@outlook.com and we will try to answer your question either in this column or via email.

Enjoy your summer! It should be beautiful. But I’d keep the umbrellas handy if I were you!

Dick

Dick Greenan is chairman of the Belgrade Lakes Watershed Dams Committee. He submitted this report on June 14, 2023.

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