8334-R3_ML&P_LSLA_2023_SummerNewsletter_Web

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2023 Spring/Summer - Hopkins Dam Report Rod Bernier

Memorial Day Weekend. Since there isn’t much of a snowpack, we’ll be reliant on Mother Nature to provide the rain to fill our lake back up. The 133 year-old Hopkins Dam survived the winter very well. The new gate and operating system are working great. There are a couple very small sink holes on the surface of the 135’ by 30’ earthen dam structure. There are currently minimal leaks in the sidewalls of the sluiceway. In addition to performing our regular maintenance, we plan on mulching and vegetating the eastern side of the dam where equipment was staged during the major repairs done last year. We’ll also be repairing/replacing the safety buoys that broke free from the northern side of the sluiceway this winter. Our next major project will be performing maintenance of the riprap on the north side of the dam. We evaluate the status of the riprap yearly. We are still projecting that this will be required in the next 5 to 10 years. Justine Beaudoin has continued to lead our communication efforts with information postings on Facebook. She will post water levels on Facebook on a weekly basis this spring as we bring the lake level up. Gary Kenny and Justine continue to partner with me on the darn Dam Committee. Many thanks to them both for all of their volunteer efforts. Thanks also to the Board of Directors of the Little Sebago Lake Association and to all of the membership for your tremendous support. We’ll be providing a full Hopkins Dam report during our Annual Meeting in July. I hope to see you there. Rod Bernier Hopkins Dam Keeper

I am thrilled to report that Hopkins Dam is in excellent condition. Little Sebago Lake ended March of 2023 with a lake level 18” below our Summer lake level. The winter drawdown began last fall two days earlier than the State mandated date of October 15 th . We opened Hopkins Dam early because we were at our Summer lake level of 289.2’ above Portland Harbor mean low tide on October 13 th and the forecast called for a major rainstorm. Despite the dam being open, the Fall rains quickly increased our lake level by 5”. As the rains subsided, the lake level started to lower and we were back at summer level by the end of October. We continued to draw down and were 17” below summer level by Thanksgiving. Late fall rains kept the lake at that level for most of December despite the Hopkins Dam being wide open. The storm just before Christmas brought the lake up another 5” bringing the lake to 12” below Summer level. The lake level gradually decreased until we hit our Winter low of 19” below Summer level on March 12 th . This is a reflection on the very unusual weather we had this Fall/Winter. We usually hit our Winter low water level in January or February. Hopkins Dam will be closed to the State mandated minimal flow on the State mandated date of April 15 th . Our goal, as always, is to have a full lake by

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