NORWICH – As summer thunderstorms continue to make their way through the area – and with more heavy rainfall predicted this week – homeowners along the shoreline of Chenango Lake are concerned with the lake’s high waters.
Many lakeside residents still haven’t been able to install their docks or boats – or mow lawns leading down to the water’s edge – due to the lake’s excessive depth, which – at times – has reached upwards of three and even four feet above normal.
Walt Prindle, who said he’s been around Chenango Lake his entire life and currently lives on its western shore, is just one of many who’ve been impacted by the high waters.
“I’ve never seen it this high for this long; it’s the highest I’ve ever seen it,” said Prindle, one of many who’ve been unable to get his dock or boat into the water. “It just never seems to go down and it’s definitely odd.”
Other west-shore residents agreed with Prindle’s assessment. One, a Chenango Lake homeowner since 1982, noted that – for the first time in her memory – the small island located at the northern end of the lake is completely submerged.
A nearby neighbor called the high waters “hard to believe” and said it’s “so high it’s causing a lot of damage in some places,” as many docks remain underwater and inaccessible.
Prindle said that a number of beaver dams near one of the lake’s outflows are part of the problem. No matter how many times they’ve been cleared out, he added, the beavers simply rebuild overnight. A recently cleared trench near the old American Legion on the south side of the lake has helped some, said Prindle, but not enough for the lake to recede to its typical level.
Many residents said they believe a rock cut on the east side of the lake – located on private property – is either partially or completely blocked by debris. According to City of Norwich Public Works Superintendent Carl Ivarson, that’s not the case.
Ivarson reported that all of the lake’s drainage areas, including the rock cut, are open at this time. The near-flood condition of the lake goes back to April, he added, but the control valve on the west side – which feeds the city’s upper and lower reservoirs and ultimately its water filtration plant – is all clear.
Beavers, he admitted, have been an issue at both the lake and the reservoirs, yet the root of the problem is simple – too much rain.
According to Ivarson, typical rainfall totals for this time of year are between fifteen and nineteen inches.
“We’re currently over 30 inches,” said Ivarson. “Everything is so saturated, the water has no place to go.”
The problem, he added, isn’t an isolated one. Lakes across the state are seeing similar problems. In fact, Ivarson said every lake he’s visited this summer is either flooded or at near-flood condition. And with a number of possibly severe thunderstorms forecast for the early part of the week, it looks as if the high waters won’t be receding any time soon.