8615-R4_ML&P_LSLA_2024_SummerNewsletter_Web

Spring/Summer 2024 - Hopkins Dam Report Rod Bernier

6 Hopkins Dam is in excellent condition. Little Sebago Lake is 4” below summer level as of April 6 th – 14” higher than we were at this time last year. The winter drawdown began last Fall three days earlier than the State mandated date of October 15 th . We opened Hopkins Dam early because we were 1.5” above our Summer lake level of 289.2’ above Portland Harbor mean low tide. It was another crazy Fall/Winter weatherwise. The lake level gradually decreased until we hit our Winter low of 20” below Summer level on December 9 th . This was very unusual as we usually hit our Winter low water level in January or February. Despite the dam remaining open all winter, the lake began a series of dramatic rises and gradual decreases for the remainder of the season. By December 20 th the lake had come up 17” to 3” below Summer level. With the dam open we should drop an inch a day if there is no precipitation. More storms made the level drop only 5” in three weeks to a

level of 8” below summer level on January 9 th . Heavy precipitation brought the lake to 1” above summer level on January 14 th . This put us almost 2 feet higher than we should be this time of year and Hopkins Dam had a tremendous roar of water flowing through it’s sluiceway at a time that normally only has a trickle. More storms prevented the normal inch a day drawdown, but in the next month the lake was able to go down to it’s next low mark of 16” below summer level on February 17 th . I’m not sure how the tremendous flow of water and the drastic changes in lake levels impacted ice thickness or consistency, but we were worried that the rivers of water flowing under the ice might be causing channels of thinner ice. Storms brought us back up another 9” in the next three weeks to 7” below Summer level on March 12 th . In the next two weeks storms only let us drop another 4” to the last low of the season of 11” below summer level. It’s been a true rollercoaster.