Low water level prompts study of Lake Lenape tributaries

(From Press of Atlantic City)
Current low-water levels in Lake Lenape have officials from Hamilton and Buena Vista townships saying it's finally time to come up with a plan they hope would better manage water sources for the lake.

The plan would likely address how to monitor water flow on the Great Egg Harbor River and other tributaries, including water sources from Collings Lake, in times of flooding and little rainfall.

"It's time to work through that," Hamilton Township Mayor Charles Pritchard said. "We need to take a stronger look at this thing."

"As a good neighbor to any other town, I'd be happy to discuss that issue," Buena Vista Township Mayor Chuck Chiarello said.

But Chiarello issued one caution, and that has to do with having no control over the weather.

"If there's just not enough flowing from the main tap heading down, that could be a problem no matter how hard anyone tries," he said.

Too little rain, a stuck sluice gate at Lake Lenape Dam and a series of closed sluice gates on lakes at Collings Lakes in Buena Vista Township are being blamed for the recent drop in water level in Lake Lenape in Mays Landing.

The Great Egg Harbor River is Lake Lenape's primary water source. A significant portion of water also makes its way to Lake Lenape from Collings Lakes, where private dam operators recently closed sluice gates to keep water levels on their lakes from dropping.
The problem was just the opposite a year ago.

Heavy rain in April 2007 dumped as much as 8 inches of rain in southern New Jersey. Much of that rain eventually drained into the Great Egg Harbor River.

The result was extensive flooding in the Indian Branch and Weymouth Furnace sections of Hamilton Township. Floodwater forced evacuations and buried decks under three to five feet of water. Sections of Mays Landing also were flooded, and officials were busy pumping water out of Lake Lenape to prevent further flooding.

Many Hamilton Township residents blamed the flooding on poor operations at the Lake Lenape Dam. They claimed dam gates were not opened soon enough to ease flooding upriver.
However, Atlantic County and municipal officials said the solution involved more than dam operations. They contend a coordinated effort along the length of the river, from its headwaters in Camden County to Lake Lenape, is the solution.

The plan never came about.

Chiarello said Buena Vista and Hamilton townships can work together and with private civic organizations in and around Collings Lakes to reach some kind of plan.

Pritchard said officials who oversee the Great Egg Harbor River's watershed also should be involved.