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COBBOSSEE LAKE

Dam fix won't affect boaters

By Keith Edwards kedwards@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

MANCHESTER -- Officials have high hopes they won't have to bring water levels too low to fix the Cobbossee Outlet Dam.

The dam is a key cog in the system for maintaining consistent water levels in Cobbossee Lake above it and Cobbossee Stream below. It impacts water levels in municipalities with water frontage including not just dam-owner Manchester, but Monmouth, Winthrop, Gardiner, Litchfield, and West Gardiner as well.

"It's a 5,000 acre lake; That's a lot of water to manage, a lot of water that passes through this dam," said Wendy Dennis, lake scientist for Cobbossee Watershed District. "It's a very good thing this dam is going to be repaired."

The project will repair the dam's six-gate system, which currently has one gate boarded up because it was at risk of blowing out, said Manchester Town Manager Mark Doyon. He said repairs may also involve replacing rotting wooden timbers with galvanized steel beams, and he is hopeful the existing gatehouse and as much equipment as possible can be reused. Doyon said the exact repairs needed, and cost, won't be know for sure until contractors get a closer look at the dam, Doyon said.

Lake users who rely on the lake being accessible to boaters have expressed concern that water levels will reach extremely low levels so early it may end boating seasons, according to Doyon.

Not so, Doyon and Dennis said.

The goal is having the drawdown of Cobbossee Lake for the project coincide with the annual seasonal drawdown of the lake, and to ensure the water won't be lowered more than it would be in a typical year.

"We're getting a lot of phone calls from people with concerns the water level is going to be extremely low," Doyon said. "But we're not planning on doing a severe drawdown. At this point we're not anticipating people are going to have to pull boats out or anything."

Doyon said the project will go out to bid in two or three weeks. The work will take place this fall and could continue into December.

The exact timing and water levels needed for the project could change based upon the selected contractor's plans. If plans change once bids are in, Doyon said he'll do his best to keep people informed.

"The goal is to have the project coincide with the fall drawdown period," Dennis said. "There is a chance construction difficulties could change that. But for now, we're planning on a normal drawdown."

Water levels are usually drawn down in the fall to accommodate spring runoff and prevent flooding.

Dennis said water levels are already fairly low so she projects the drawdown, which sometimes starts as soon as Sept. 15, won't start until around Oct. 1.

She said the drawdown is done in two phases, starting with a more gradual phase up to Columbus Day.

"We really want people to be able to use the lake and get their boats in and out through Columbus Day weekend," Dennis said.

Doyon declined to discuss cost estimates out of concern that could influence bidders. At Town Meeting in June, an account the town established four years ago for dam repairs had collected about $180,000 toward the project.

How to pay for repairs to the dam has been controversial, with Rep. Patricia Jones, D-Mount Vernon, sponsoring a bill last year which would have required the towns of Manchester, Winthrop, West Gardiner, Monmouth and Litchfield, which all border Cobbossee Lake, to share in the cost. The bill was voted down in committee.

Doyon said he's discussed the issue with managers in the other towns, other than West Gardiner, which does not have a manager and where town officials have already said the town will not contribute funds.

He anticipates Manchester will ask the other communities to make some contribution to the cost of repairing the dam in the next fiscal year.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com