The Drought Is Broken
by Dick Greenan
Well it looks like we may have finally broken out of that long term drought forecast which we have only been living with for the past five years! They had been forecasting 26% less precipitation through the end of 2020 but that has all been changed. They are now forecasting just 21% less precipitation for this coming August and September, BUT now a 21% INCREASE in precipitation for October.
Fortunately, we are missing Tropical Storm Fay, which is now going out west of Maine. We much prefer light rain events versus those flooding rains and the resultant phosphorous runoff.
As I write this weeks column, we had received 1.72" of rain in the past ten days and are forecasted for another 1.06" for the next 10 days. All good news for our lands, farmers, and water levels, not to mention our wells.
I am pleased to report that both Great and Long Ponds are now cresting their spillways ½", which means that we are at Full Pond. This has not happened at this point in the summer for the past five years. And as a reminder, Great Pond and Long Pond dams have been completely shut down for well over a month now so your Dams Committee remains in the "preserve the water levels at all cost" mode.
For more good news, our "permanent" repair on Wings Mill starts this week. This project has been in the works for three years and it's good to see our efforts finally coming to fruition.
Enjoy the family, your vacation and this incredibly beautiful weather and please stay safe!
Dick Greenan is secretary to the Belgrade Lakes Watershed Dams Committee. He submitted this report on 7/10/2020.
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