Kingdom Dam/Water Level Issue (UPDATED 11/23/2018)
[Completed Work: Photo taken 9/29/2018]
[11/15/2018] The curbs on the notch section were not installed properly and DEC is contacting the contractor to address this problem; the slabs were not joined to their concrete base correctly and water seepage is occuring below them. Nonetheless, the lake level is now quite high as a result of recent rains and snow.
[9/17/2018] From Tom Lincoln (9/11): "Concrete curbs will be delivered this Thursday [9/13] and they expect to be installing them on Monday 9/17 weather permitting." Work has begun. Lake level has been lowered. Culvert bridge water level very low and boat passage is restricted.
We will post photos once the work has been completed.
[9/10/2018]: Update from DEC engineer Tom Lincoln: "With the rain in the forecast, the contractor will not be back on site until Thursday [9/13] at the earliest. Depending on the storm totals, they may not be on site until next week.
We are targeting 4” below the notch for a pond level during the work. Once complete, and after the water is flowing over the spillway again, things will be entirely run of river.
We will pass along updates as we get them."
[8/28/2018]: From DEC engineer Tom Lincoln: "I was told today that the target date is September 10th to begin work but that could shift. Our DEC biologists have asked that all drawdown work be done by 10/01. It sounds like we are on track for that as the work should proceed fairly quickly. The contractor should only need the water a foot or less below the notch. I am not sure roughly how low it is now, but boaters should plan accordingly after Labor Day for lower water. After that it will be up to Mother Nature to get the water back to the notch level while a baseflow of water is maintained downstream."
[May, 2018]: Here is a selection from an early May 2018 correspondence from DEC's managing engineer, Tom Lincoln, on the Kingdom Dam/Water level issue (on correcting the dam elevation and raising the water level height of the lake):
"The modification to the dam is the installation of concrete curbs across the spillway crest. The spillway portion raise is five inches and the notch raise is seven inches. I made a pitch to our staff about reducing the notch depth, and they agreed it would be acceptable. That is why the notch raise is greater than the rest of the spillway. That should improve things during unusually dry times where there will be a higher pond surface.Clough Harbor was having difficulty getting a contractor to do the work but has reached out to other groups that have done good work with them in the past. DEC Fisheries and Wetland staff gave permissible dates of mid-June to September 30th to complete the work. Given that the water has to be below the notch elevation to install the curb, we asked Clough Harbor to set up construction to occur after Labor Day. Depending on the weather conditions, ideally the water would be lowered beginning just after Labor Day weekend. This would avoid impacts to the residents during the season.
For the 2018 season,
I was able to get the DEC staff to agree to install cinder blocks and/or sand bags to block the existing notch. That will keep the water surface as high as possible for this year at the dam. Those will be installed as the spring flows are reduced and the water is near the spillway crest.
Lastly I wanted to reiterate that the dam is still set to operate as run of river as mandated by Fisheries staff during the permitting phase. There will not be different winter and summer elevations for the pond."
FOLLOW UP -- The cinder blocks and sand bags mentioned above have been installed. Corrective work on the Dam will take place after Labor Day this year (2018). Tom Lincoln recently (8/1/2018) sent the following construction plans for the entire Dam project. He noted that the set of plans is "from the end of the construction as the dam now sits. There will be some elevations that are corrected in a future set after the work is done this fall, but the alignment and configuration of the dam is accurate." LINK TO DOCUMENT: Kingdom Dam 2017-04-28-Record Drawings
* We have applied for a grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to help us address our milfoil problem (11/20/2018). Their decision on the application will come in March.
* UPDATE ON ESSEX COUNTY DPW WORK PLANS (11/20/2018): DPW did not complete repair work on the road erosion caused by storm water flowage at the intersections of Lincoln Pond Road and both Twin Brooks and
Francis Myers Drive. Weather and other road repair priorities interefered with their planned repair. We will continue to monitor the situation to make sure they get to those repairs as soon as possible.
On a separate issue: they will NOT be dredging out the sand deposits filling in the south side of the causeway bridge/culvert ("this is
outside our standard scope of work"), but the Association has begun pursuing permits to undertake the work with volunteers; we are also trying to convince the DEC to take this on.
We have also begun discussions with the Essex County DPW toward ultimate replacement of the culvert bridge with a higher, wider, and deeper bridge across the causeway.
* REPORT ON ANNUAL SUMMER PICNIC: (Saturday, August 11, 2018). Our 2018 picnic was a great success with plenty of delicious food and between 40-50 people attending. Attendees also heard reports on the July 31 meeting (see below) as well as efforts to remediate problems with the causeway bridge/culvert.
* REPORT ON SPECIAL MILFOIL/INVASIVE PLANT MEETING OF TUESDAY, JULY 31: Leigh Walrath from the APA and Tim Post from DEC -- with Gerry Zahavi and Wayne Johnson -- met to tour Lincoln Pond on the morning of July 31 to evaluate the extent of our Milfoil infestation. They then made a presentation to Pond Association members at 10:15 AM, discussing different approaches to milfoil control, grant $ sources, state regulations, and long term management recommendations. The presentation took place at Camp 6, 39 Lower Pond Way (Sienkiewicz's camp). Here is a copy of the powerpoint presentation made by Leigh Walrath: Lincoln Pond Presentation.pdf
 crew (partial).jpg)
* ROAD TRASH CLEAN-UP DAY (Took place June 23): In spite of the light rain, we had a fantastic turnout for our road clean up this year (the best in quite some time). Around 20 folks turned up! Here is a photo of many of those who were there; several arrived AFTER the photo was taken.
(Photo from Christy Lill)
* The 2018 ANNUAL MEETING (took place July 7th): 
Our annual meeting took place on Saturday, July 7th, at Jeff Sienkiewicz's camp (39 Lower Pond Way). More than 40 members attended representing dozens of camps. Minutes from that meeting are available here: Meeting Minutes from this year's meeting (July 7, 2018);
Meeting Minutes from last year's (2017) meeting are available now: 2017 Lincoln Pond Meeting Minutes (pdf file)
