It remains to be seen.
Representatives of the DLA made further presentations to the Town Board in late October and early November on the matter of repair and maintenance of the culvert and canal through which Duane Lake drains. It’s their culvert and much of the canal is within the Town’s right-of-way.
The DLA is petitioning the Town to recognize its responsibility and take action before it is too late.
It might seem odd to press the matter right now, with lake water at or near an all-time low due to drought (something everyone who relies on lake water should start thinking about), but it all has to due with the threat posed to the dam by big storms that over-fill the lake and send water over the top of the dam. We’ve been nagging the Town for at least ten years on this.
We know of three instances when the lake water has risen that high. Each time it eroded a little more soil off the top and back side of the dam. At some point it can cause a dam blow-out, as it has elsewhere.
This is not an emergency. Not yet. This is about doing proper maintenance before it’s too late.
The canal is plugged with 70 years-worth of road sand (and brush growing in it).
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| This is the canal, now grown full of purple loosestrife, goldenrod, and woody brush. Every cubic inch of vegetation is a cubic inch less capacity for storm water. |
The Town’s large culvert is also sagging. As recently as five years ago DLA volunteers used to be able to walk through it in a bent-over posture to clean out debris. Now you’d have to crawl.
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| The exit end of the culvert that drains Duane Lake. Note the flattening of the top inside. This degree of severity is quite new. |
And—just to repeat what we’ve been saying for years—the culvert was inserted a foot too high, overriding the function of the spillway built by NY State, pushing up stormwater to an elevation NY State says is an unsafe level, threatening the dam.
The DLA has notified the NY State Dam Safety Section (of DEC) at least three times over the years. After all, they directed that it be built to these specifications as a replacement for one they deemed too high.
So far 68 Duane Lake property owners have signed the petition. But we can do better.
Please know that we need not settle for one signature per household. Spouses and adult children with an ownership interest (or future ownership interest) can sign it, too.
So . . . if you want to support this effort by the DLA, please make sure every adult in your family signs this online petition.
It can only help.
Thanks for your support!
Your DLA Board of Directors,
Pat Huff Chris Miller Norm Stewart Kathy Hotaling
Dirk Felton Alan Knight Ian Colgan Tom McGrath Kim Roberts