Dear Friend of the Lake,
As I begin this message for the fall newsletter, I can’t deny my concerns about the ongoing drought in western Connecticut and its effects on our Lake. We have all enjoyed a great stretch of beautiful, sun-drenched weeks at the lake this summer. Brilliant sunshine, no significant rain and thirty days of 90-degree temperatures seems like a perfect scenario for summer enjoyment. However, the summer produced good news and bad news for Lake Waramaug.
The good news: With low rainfall totals the Lake experienced a minimum amount of harmful nutrient flows. This allowed water clarity to improve over the disappointing levels in 2020 and 2021.
The bad news: Lake levels have dropped significantly and exposed greater areas of the shoreline, some of which have been uncovered for the first time. The two-acre delta at the base of Sucker Brook is an example of a large exposed area of nutrient rich sediment.
Smaller deltas have been exposed in other years but what makes this year different is the size of the delta and the excessive wave action created by wake boats and waves created by the tight circling by tubing. These waves crash over the delta, pick up nutrients and drag them back into the Lake as the water recedes. These nutrients are the primary source of cyanobacteria growth which we know is one of the greatest threats to Lake Waramaug. An increase in cyanobacteria levels could ultimately determine much of what happens to the Lake’s water quality in the spring, summer and fall of 2023 and beyond. This is why we sent the urgent email concerning boating activity on August 25th.
While we continue to monitor Lake Waramaug during the drought, the Task Force continues its work in the watershed to identify erosion sites along the banks of the Lake’s many tributaries. We know that these erosion sites greatly contribute to increasing sediment deposits and water quality issues. While the Task Force has mitigated some sites in the past, there are numerous additional erosion sites that need attention and they will be expensive to stabilize.
The Task Force has also been working with the three towns that surround Lake Waramaug, Warren, Washington and Kent, to open dialogue with officials to improve permitting and building procedures to be more protective of wetland and open water resources in the watershed. In Washington, we are supplying officials with Lake level and stream flow data so that they can determine the best way to manage state required Lake water outflows at the Washington dam, all in an effort to keep lake levels as constant as possible.
We know that each year will present different types of adversity for Lake Waramaug and that the “TASK OF PROTECTING AND IMPROVING THE LAKE” is an ongoing process. We believe if we work together as concerned partners, Lake Waramaug will remain the crown jewel in the Connecticut lake system.
Mike Guadagno
Lake Waramaug Task Force Chair