In recent weeks, residents in Whitefield and Jefferson may have noticed that the water level in Clary Lake is low. Marshes that are typically submerged are dry, a public boat ramp is almost completely exposed, and the surface of the lake is five or six feet below the top of the dam on Rt. 218 in Whitefield.
In numerous interviews over the last week, several residents and property owners on the lake said the level at this point in the year is typically several feet higher than it is now. Some residents raised concerns about the impact of the low water on wildlife around the lake.
The dam on Rt. 218 is privately owned, and the owner said the level is “not appreciably lower than other years.”
Every winter – as is done with most dams – the water level in Clary Lake is drawn down in an effort to prevent flooding in the spring. “Every year since we have owned it the dam has been over-topped by spring run-off,” said Paul Kelley, of Pleasant Pond Mill LLC, the dam’s owner since 2006.
The Rt. 218 dam works by draining water under the dam through a pipe. The dam is not designed to have water flow over it; water flowing over the top damages the dam, Kelley said.
This winter’s drawdown is in keeping with engineering recommendations and an attempt to prevent over-topping in the spring, Kelley said.
“We’ve tried to act responsibly and professionally,” Kelley said. “If lake owners have concerns about the water level, I’d like to hear about it; I’m not interested in endangering wildlife.”
Several residents disagreed with Kelley’s description of how low the water level is. Most said the level is about five feet lower than normal for this time of year. All the residents interviewed for this article said the water level is dramatically lower than years past. Resident George Fergusson said the last time he remembers the lake being this low was in the early 1970s, when the dam’s owner at the time attempted to drain the lake.
Volunteer Clary Lake water quality monitor David Hodsdon said the level is “extremely low.”
“We don’t understand why it’s being done,” said Ellis Percy, president of the Clary Lake Association, an organization for property owners on Clary Lake. The Clary Lake Association plans to meet on Dec. 17 to discuss the lake level and how the organization wants to proceed.
At the center of this issue is a 50-plus-year struggle between residents and various owners of the Rt. 218 dam. No one contacted for this article was able to provide a clear explanation of why the dam has remained privately owned though the decades.
In Maine, private dam owners have every right – as a property owner – to control their dam as they see fit. The owner has sole authority over the water level in the body of water behind their dam.
According to the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection, they only have authority over the operation of a privately owned dam if residents submit a Lake Level Petition. This document starts a process of DEP determining the appropriate lake level and enforcing that level. Only after a level has been set does DEP have the authority to regulate the operation of the dam.
DEP officials were unable to provide data on how common private ownership of dams in Maine is, but DEP Aquatic Biologist Dave Halliwell said for lakes as large as Clary Lake, “I would think it would be unusual” for the dam to be privately owned.
The next steps will largely be determined at the upcoming Clary Lake Association meeting. Fergusson, a member and former president of the association, said residents have started work on a Lake Level Petition. Percy said the association will discuss that petition at the Dec. 17 meeting.
