Freedom — March 19, 2011 — Winter 2010-11 provided deep snow all the way into last week. Then on Wednesday we received some warm weather and a inch or so of rain. Much less rain than south of here. The result was a rapid increase in the lake level from below 404′ to almost 408′ in a few days. The State Dam Authority did a manual check of the gauge and found it to be accurate.
The level decreased a few inches earlier this week but is on the rise again because of the warm weather and significant snow melt. There was some rain to the south of us but we had snow. Ice continues to cover the lake and bays.
The following are some illustrations of how fast the lake level can change:
We had visitors from Indiana staying with us for a ski vacation during the weekend of March 12th Our cottage is on the western shore line of Leavitt Bay, and to be very honest the only time I’ve ever seen the bay water level lower was when the major draw-down occurred a few years ago for waterfront maintenance. We draw our water from a dug well and the foot valve was pulling air after about a minute of use with the shower. We managed but just barely.
There is a natural spring about 75 feet off of our neighbors summer waterline and it keeps nthe watewr open in that are each winter. This year all you could see was bare ground. I don’t like spring floods but this year the draw-down was not normal.
Drawdown was normal this year, we just had less rain than previous years and the level was able to get down to where is really should be for winter. If you recall the year it was drawn down early for maintenance and was lower than this, we got approx 7″ of rain and the lake went to approx 412″ in a matter of a couple days.
I also believe that since that event there has been significant changes to the topography of the lake and channels and that there is more hydraulic restriction than previous to that October. The winter lake levels appear to have been a bit higher over the winters since then until this year. One only needs to look at the changes to the river bed at the mouth of the bearcamp river and the remarkable change in depth that occurs by the rope swing from year to year.
For those of us in flood prone portions of the lake, a low level in the winter is a welcome sight, though most of us are fairly well prepared for the flooding events.
Tom mentioned the “Hydraulic Restrictions” and my guess is that the majority of the owners on the main lake have no appreciation for how long it takes Berry or Leavitt Bay to catch up to a significant increase in the level of the main lake. The reverse is true when lowering the lake.