Freedom — October 27, 2009 — Since my last report 12 days ago, the lake level went down at a gradual rate that was close to plan. By 4 a.m. on Saturday the level was down to 405.71′ and I could walk all around my beached docks. The south side dam had a few gates open but the stop logs were in on the north side.
Then the rain came all day Saturday. The official report is 1.5 inches. One of my neighbors reported 3 inches. As of last night, two days after the day-long rain ended, the level was up to 407.65′ and continues to increase. Looks like it may crest on Tuesday at a level near 408′. That is 9″ above summer plan.
Flow rate at the dam was doubled Monday afternoon to 1200 cfs. Bearcamp flow is now below 600 cfs but there is lots of water to come from the south, under Rt. 25 at the State launch area.
As reported in October, “we almost always have a flood between now and Christmas.” Considering the work they want to do in a dry streambed below the north side dam in November, there is a good chance Mother Nature will send us one more flood this year.
Life on the Bearcamp River always requires additional attention during severe weather conditions. Typically if the river goes above 7 feet as reported at the USGS site in South Tamworth, we have problems with high water. No different this Sunday. Although some people view this as a hassle, I’ve come to expect and use it to remove my pontoon from the river for the season well after the lake draw down. Mother Nature hasn’t let me down yet! 🙂
http://www.BearcampRiver.com/river_data.html