Good news!! Yesterday 4/1/08 the Township placed a metal plate along with additional debris to slow the loss of water from the lake. This morning less then 24 hours later the lake level was up 2 inches. This proves, as mentioned in past posts, the low water level in the lake was caused from the water pouring out of the stuck gate, not from the lack of rain or Collings Lakes.
Click to enlarge
A study is not needed and would be a huge waste of tax payers dollars! The Township and County must begin operating the damn in a responsible pro-active fashion and notify residents when there are issues.
The flood last year was a byproduct of the dam gates not being operated properly. The lake level was very high, the gates where closed, it rained substantially and the flood occurred.
This year its the same problem in reverse. Dam gate #1 became stuck open on April 16th. It took almost 2-1/2 months and the lake level dropping almost 2 feet, for the Township and the County to make the first attempt to fix the problem, with sandbags. There where several call made to the County a month ago about the lake loosing 1 inch of water a day. This has nothing to do with the lack of rain or Collings Lakes.
(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.
County Addresses Low Water Levels on Lake Lenape
Atlantic County officials are working to address concerns regarding the noticeably low water levels currently being experienced on Lake Lenape in Mays Landing.
Due to a lack of significant rainfall, the water levels are down substantially, according to Vince Jones, Atlantic County Emergency Management Coordinator.
The county is recommending that boaters on the lake reduce their speed to 5 mph and exercise caution to avoid exposed underwater hazards. The normal speed is 45 mph.
"We understand the concerns of nearby homeowners and local boaters and we are doing our best to ensure their safety under these temporary circumstances," stated County Executive Dennis Levinson.
The county has placed sand bags along the Lake Lenape dam gates to help minimize additional water loss and will continue to work with Hamilton Township officials and consulting engineers to seek additional alternatives.
The county is also working with O’Brien & Gere Engineers on the development of a plan for the installation of a cofferdam to improve the operation of the dam’s sluice gates. The proposed plan requires permit approvals from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
"We have been diligently working to optimize the operation of the gates for over a year. We are now waiting for the appropriate DEP approvals to proceed," noted Levinson.
Following an April 2007 nor’easter, Lake Lenape experienced excessively high water levels which required emergency pumping to help draw down the levels to avoid street flooding. More than a year later the lake’s water levels are at a near record low.
Forecasts call for a chance of showers and thunderstorms over the next several days.
"Beach goers and vacationers may not like it, but we’d welcome some help from Mother Nature," concluded Levinson.
Linda Gilmore
Public Information Officer
County of Atlantic
Department of Administration
1333 Atlantic Avenue
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Voice: 609-343-2313
FAX: 609-343-2194
gilmore_linda@aclink.org
