Press Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2005 CONTACT: Jim Gallagher (603) 271-1961

Concord, NH - The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) announced today that the annual fall drawdown of the lakes and ponds controlled by dams operated by DES will be initiated during the next few months according to the schedule below.

Lake drawdowns are conducted each fall to reduce winter ice damage to shoreline properties and to reduce spring flooding. Drawdowns also give property owners an opportunity to conduct any necessary repairs to their waterfront property, provided they first secure a permit from the DES Wetlands Bureau at (603) 271-2147.

The depth of drawdown listed below is not from the current level, but is from the normal full pond level. Since the hydrologic conditions and recreational uses of these water bodies vary, the degree and date of the start of drawdown for each lake is varied and could be affected by the amount of rainfall during the period. In addition, the actual date at which the drawdown will begin could vary by a few days based on operational constraints.

In addition to the annual fall drawdowns, there are several special drawdowns to be conducted this year, including an earlier than normal drawdown at Ossipee Lake. This year, Ossipee Lake will be drawn down beginning on September 6, after the Labor Day weekend, rather than on Columbus Day as is the norm. This early drawdown, which will be of the same three-foot depth as the usual annual drawdown, was requested by the Ossipee Lake Dam Authority in response to input it received from residents surrounding the lake. It has been 11 years since an early lowering of the lake has occurred, and the extra month will allow for the maintenance and repair of exposed shoreline structures. Although the drawdown will begin after the Labor Day Weekend, the level of the lake will not drop to the full drawdown depth immediately. DES will control the rate of lake drawdown so that the drop in lake level will be limited to approximately six inches through September 13. Depending on inflows into the lake at the time, it could take another two weeks to lower the lake the remaining 30 inches.

Other special drawdowns this year include Horn Pond in Wakefield, which will be drawn down to eight feet below normal starting on October 1 to accommodate the replacement of deteriorated stop-logs. Once the stop-logs are replaced, the level will be brought back to the normal winter drawdown level of 1.5 feet. Because Great East Lake in Wakefield drains into Horn Pond, the winter drawdown of Great East Lake will have to be delayed until approximately October 8, after the work at Horn Pond is completed. Also in Wakefield, the level of Pine River Pond will be lowered at a more rapid rate than normal, as is the practice once every three years, to provide property owners additional time to perform shoreline repairs. In Andover, there will be a special drawdown of two feet at Morey Pond, starting on October 11, to accommodate the repair of flashboards. The pond will be brought back to its normal level after the work is completed. In addition to these drawdowns, DES will drain five of its flood control impoundments in September to perform detailed inspections of the outlet works of the dams. These impoundments include Souhegan Site 14 (Furnace Brook) in New Ipswich, Baker Site 2 (Hildreth Dam) in Warren, Baker Site 5 (Ellsworth Road) and Baker Site 6A (Beech Hill Road) in Wentworth, and Baker Site 8 in Dorchester. These impoundments will be allowed to refill immediately after the inspections are completed.

Generally, lake levels are allowed to return to the normal full pond level in the spring. However, Angle Pond in Sandown is allowed to return to normal at the beginning of December, and Chesham Pond in Harrisville is lowered by four feet starting Columbus Day for a period of six to eight weeks and the level is brought up to two feet below the normal full pond level for the remainder of winter.

Not included in this schedule is Lake Winnipesaukee. Unlike the other lakes in this schedule, Lake Winnipesaukee is not purposely drawn down in the fall. Instead, each year on Columbus Day, the releases from Lakeport Dam are reduced from a normal minimum of 250 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a flow between 30 and 50 cfs for a period of up to two weeks to allow for maintenance of the dams and hydropower facilities on the Winnipesaukee River. The flow of 30 to 50 cfs is the minimum flow needed to maintain the downstream aquatic life during this period.

By the middle of the fall, Lake Winnipesaukee is, on average, 15 inches below its springtime full level due to evaporation and releases from the lake that have occurred over the course of the summer. As a result of the reduction in the amount of water released from the dam after Columbus Day, the lake level does not drop for the remainder of the month of October and is generally maintained at this level through the month of December. Depending on the amount of snow on the ground in the winter, the lake level may be lowered further beginning in January to a depth of two feet below the normal full level.