Belgrade Water Levels

Dear Neighbor, Those of you that have spent this winter here in the Belgrade's have been more than aware of the wet winter and spring we’ve had and its effect on all of our streams, rivers and lakes. With the exception of Salmon Lake, all of our lakes are a good 12-14” above full pond when they should be right at full pond or a maximum of 3” above. For those of you “from away”, you will be in for a shock when you get back “Home”! Going back to just this past October 2023, we have had far more rain than we can handle. Four inches of rain for October is normal but when we receive 8.53” in December and another 7.01” just for the first twenty-four days in March, our dams just can not handle the onslaught. Keep in mind that due to the steep watershed, Long Pond comes up three inches for every inch of rain! So in December, Long Pond came up 25.59”!!! Last month, Long Pond came up an additional 21.03”!!! Despite both gates being wide open, that is a lot of water for Long Pond’s Wings Mill Dam to process with two relatively meager 6’10” square gates and a 90’ spillway. Hence the extremely high-water levels. With Long Pond close to flood stage, your Dams Committee has been holding back Great Pond which is of some help with its 9’ x 9’ primary gate but very limited as compared to the volume of water coming off the Kennebec Highlands’ Beaver Brook which this past December was 100 yds wide and is still running wild! The entire Belgrade Lakes watershed drains out through Wings Mill on its journey down to Messalonskee, the Oakland dam and out to the Kennebec River and the Atlantic. The Kennebec has also been at and above flood stage throughout the winter. How long will these water levels last? Without any more rain, we are looking at three to four weeks at the very least until we can get levels back to normal. Our water levels are a major inconvenience, particularly for those who make a living on our recreation. But fortunately, we still have our homes. Thank you all for your patience.

Dick Greenan, Belgrade Area Dams Committee