Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Dam Removal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves dam removal replanting plan despite ownership uncertainty for drained lakebed
Summary
The WIC committee approved a phased replanting plan for a dam-removal project that will convert a 40-acre pond into roughly 10 acres of standing water and about 30 acres of planting over several seasons. The Nature Conservancy and staff flagged a legal complication: the newly exposed lakebed may be of 'unknown ownership.'
The WIC committee approved a phased replanting plan tied to a planned dam removal that will reduce a 40-acre impoundment to about 10 acres of standing water and require roughly 30 acres of planting over multiple seasons.
Jordan Duffy, the project engineer, outlined a multi‑phase approach: immediate sediment-removal and edge planting where possible, live-staking and seeding in exposed fringes, installation of willow fascines to stabilize future channels, and later phases to install bare‑root trees and shrubs once soils are accessible. "We're looking at the full pond… the area highlighted in red is our area of sediment removal that we are proposing immediately upstream of the dam," Duffy said, and noted the in-stream work window is June 1 to Oct. 1.
During discussion, committee members raised a major ownership question: deeds for adjoining lots describe property by pins rather than water edge, leaving the drained pond bottom potentially without an identified owner. Shane Jaquith and others said determining title would be expensive and uncertain; Jaquith noted The Nature Conservancy was prepared to assume some of the planting risk. "We're working on land of unknown ownership… it would take a massive legal effort to try to determine and you might not ever get to an answer," a Nature Conservancy representative said.
Members also discussed phasing and contracting options to allow partial project closeouts so the state crediting program can post credits sooner. They debated knotweed management strategy; Jordan said the team favors an "offense" — establish native plants quickly to resist knotweed — rather than a costly multi-year eradication program that would likely require repeated treatments.
Dan moved to vote and the committee approved the project; during the roll-call on abstentions, Katie, David and Shane were recorded as abstaining. Staff will coordinate bidding, contract phasing and long-term maintenance agreements with DEC and project partners.
