The Board of Selectmen, Town Manager and staff, State Representative Case, and the Highland Watershed Association Board are monitoring the situation at Highland Lake with regard to the Suckerbrook Dam pipe failure and resulting sedimentation that flowed into the lake last October. We are also monitoring the low visibility readings at the lake on April 4th and continued murkiness through May.
Suckerbrook Dam is state owned and is controlled in part by the Army Corp of Engineers. The State DEEP Dam Division is coordinating the repairs to the dam. Bids are due on May 16th with the hope that repairs can begin as soon after that as possible. The Board of Selectmen will also be requesting that DEEP address the issue of silt that has already entered the lake from the failure.
The Highland Lake Watershed Association in partnership with the town has asked limnologist George Knocklein to analyze the issues as he has decades of experience at Highland Lake examining the lake’s health. Once the report is complete, we will begin to take steps to remediate the issues.
The public can help by limiting silty runoff, cleaning up leaves and other garbage from pipes leading into the lake, and reporting any major siltation that you see to the Town Manager’s office. Together, we can insure the future health of Highland Lake.