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Date: 12/23/2021
SOUTHWICK – The Lake Management Committee voted unanimously Dec. 9 to recommend closing Congamond Lake to all boating when unusually high rainfall leads to a rapid rise in the lake’s water level.
Committee Chair Dick Grannells said that the new policy would mean that if the lake rises above 225.2 inches at the designated measuring location, no boating would be allowed on the water, regardless of a vessel’s speed or power source. Before, the policy allowed for boaters to remain on the lake with what amounted to a speed limit of about 6 miles per hour, if the lake level rises within a certain window. A full boat ban would still be implemented after the waters reached a certain height.
The reason for a boat ban and the former “no-wake” order was to prevent shore erosion from waves caused by faster-moving boats, which Grannells and other lakeside residents said had already been taking place to some extent before Tropical Storm Ida hit Southwick in September. When Ida hit the region, it rapidly rose the water level from its nominal level of 224.4 inches to 225.67 inches above sea level. Though the difference appears small, the rise in water put many lakeside residents’ docks underwater, and brought the waterline further onto people’s lawns, creating a risk of erosion.
Under the protocol that the committee recommended to Harbormaster Robert Landis, the town’s police chief, the lake would be entirely closed to boaters if the level rises above 225.2 inches, skipping the no-wake order entirely. The lake level would then need to fall below 224.8 inches to be reopened to boating traffic.
The closure of the lake from Ida this summer came at one of the worst times for boaters. The no-wake order and subsequent closure of the lake took place on Labor Day weekend, one of the last chances for boaters to enjoy the lake before the weather turns too cold.
Grannells and several other committee members said that it was too difficult to enforce the no-wake order due to the size of the lake and its different sections, which is the main reason why they want the order stricken from the protocol entirely, leaving only a full boating ban as an option in the event of another rapid lake level rise.
The committee’s vote will now need to be approved by Landis, the Conservation Commission, and the Select Board.