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Belgrade Area Dams Committee to maintain lake levels as drought conditions persist
Summary
At its May 11 meeting, the Belgrade Area Dams Committee agreed to maintain current water levels across local ponds and adjust Wing’s Mill Dam as needed after reviewing pond elevations, NOAA drought reports and recent maintenance items including a $278 datalogger repair.
The Belgrade Area Dams Committee on May 11 agreed to keep current water levels at local dams and make targeted gate adjustments as needed amid a dry outlook from NOAA.
At the meeting held at the Belgrade Town Office, Craig Alexander, chair of the committee, reported that Great Pond measured 247.7 feet, about a half-inch below full, with the gate opened a half-inch to maintain flow. Tom Bennett said Long Pond stood at 238.6 feet, roughly 4.5 inches above full with gates closed; Dick Greenan added that the upper Long Pond was about 3.75 inches above full. Ted Fontaine reported Salmon Lake at 278.3 feet, about 3.5 inches above full with Gate 2–3 turns and the valve passing roughly 1 cubic foot per second. Dick Greenan reported Messalonskee Lake at 235.3 feet, about 1.7 inches below full.
The committee discussed a strategy of maintaining water levels at the Village Dam, opening Wing’s Mill Dam Gate 1 about 1–2 feet when necessary, and managing Salmon Lake on an as-needed basis depending on rainfall. The minutes note that NOAA is reporting drought conditions similar to recent years, with approximately 26% less precipitation than average, a condition members said informed their cautious approach to releases.
Members also reviewed recent maintenance and monitoring updates. The Salmon Lake datalogger has been repaired and is again logging and reporting data; the repair cost was $278. Committee members reported small sink holes in the Salmon berm that will be repacked using on-site stockpiled material (an estimated one to two buckets of material) and are expected to be completed this month.
On infrastructure coordination, Dick Greenan said he will contact the Maine Department of Transportation to request a site visit to the Village Dam so DOT can review options for the emergency spillway and raise any concerns. Wing’s Mill Gate was recently adjusted to correct a jam; an invoice for that work has been received and will be paid.
A guest representing East Pond, Edie Cornwall, told the committee that water levels there were about 4 inches over the top of the boards, with one board open and about 13 inches flowing over concrete on one side. She said the water needs to be about 50–60°F for perch spawning and that levels were being maintained to allow a release timed to spawning conditions.
Procedural items included approval of the April meeting minutes (motion by Tom Bennett; second by Mike Belanger; unanimous) and scheduling the next meeting for Monday, June 8 at 4:00 p.m. at the Belgrade Town Office. Ted Fontaine moved to adjourn at 4:18 p.m.; Tom Bennett seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
The committee’s next steps include coordinating a DOT site visit for the Village Dam, monitoring NOAA forecasts and rainfall before making further releases, completing the Salmon berm repacking, and continuing to monitor datalogger reports.
