Skip to main content

Hero Home

thorn

Thorndike Pond
Conservation Association

Drawdown Notice 2013

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Thorndike Pond 2013 Drawdown

 

State mandated alterations to the Thorndike Pond dam necessitate a major draw-down of the pond.  The TPCA Board of Directors wants you to be aware of the work, the schedule and potential inconvenience.  The repairs, scheduled for this fall, are the ones that we have been discussing for the last two years and for which most of you have contributed.  We regret any inconvenience that it may cause but want you to be aware of what is happening and when so you can plan around it.

 

The project schedule is:

  • Drawdown will start on August 15th, 2013
  • No more than 2 boards will be removed before September 3rd.
  • After Labor Day, we will be dropping the pond level as fast as we can so the dam work can be completed before freezing compromises the cement’s curing.
  • We expect to complete construction by November 15th.
  • The lake will be returned to normal following completion and inspection of the repairs.

 

Please be advised that:

  • Water levels may be down between 9 and 18 inches by Labor Day.
  • The public boat ramp is shallow under the best of conditions and you should be advised it will be much worse by Labor Day.
  • After Labor Day the pond will be lowered further to about seven feet below normal.
  • Floating docks and rafts should be removed before they are stranded.
  • If you are planning an event on your property after Labor Day you should expect that the pond is likely to lose some cosmetic appeal.
  • Once construction is complete the pond will refill at a rate dependent on rainfall.
  • The bathometric chart on the reverse side shows roughly where the shoreline will be during the drawdown. The pond will drop to a level somewhere between the red and blue contour lines.
  • If you choose to do maintenance in the water in front of your property while the pond is down, you should be aware of NH Department of Environmental Services regulations:
    • It is an excellent time to clean up bottles and cans and other underwater trash.
    • Keep in mind that the lakebed is not your property, your property stops at the high water line.
    • You are allowed to rake, but only leaves, branches, and organic debris, not muck or lakebed material and even then raking is limited to 900 square feet.
    • Plants and rocks should not be disturbed as they contribute to the ecosystem and prevent erosion. 
    • If you want to do any dredging or other maintenance beyond trash clean-up and raking, you will need a wetlands application.  That is available at the NH Department of Environmental Services Website, under the Water Division, Wetlands Bureau. The statutory approval time for an application is 75 days.  You should contact them by phone prior to submitting the application to better understand the requirements.