But Kennebec Water Power's dam operation has little or nothing to do with the problem, according to the company's river engineer Wesley Hallowell. "If you pulled 4,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) our of the lake for 24 hours straight, the lake would drop only one-tenth of a foot," Hallowell told the Land Use Regulation Commission at its monthly meeting Thursday.

The low water levels in Moosehead Lake and nearly every other body of water in Maine is strictly due to lack of rainfall, Hallowell explained, "We are about 85 percent below our average rainfall for the month of August," said the KWP official.

Nevertheless, some camp owners said that they were skeptical about the effects of the water release at the KWP dam and suggested that Moosehead Lake was being drawn down to satisfy the rafting industry. The recent license renewal of Harris Dam on Indian Pond, for example, contained a clause that guaranteed a minimum flow at certain peak periods for whitewater rafting. "In our opinion, rafters are running a theme park at the expense of Moosehead Lake," said Carlton Pinney of the Mathews Cove Campers Association.

No so, said Hallowell. The water release is strictly regulated by the needs of industries and utilities in Madison, taking into consideration the "weather curve," he explained. "We have no control over what goes on at Harris Dam," Hallowell said.

Another camp owner, Bob Davis, decried what he termed as a system "where our rights are below anyone elses. It's a bad situation when you have to pull in your boat in July."

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Regional Biologist Paul Johnson also concurred that the lack of rainfall is a major problem in the Moosehead Lake region this summer. First Roach Pond, for example, "is about two-and-a-half feet below where we'd like it. The output is down to about 60 cfs, which is not good."

While the LURC panel listened patiently to the brief debate, Commissioner Bart Harvey also noted that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) "was the over-riding agency in the process. I think those who lobbied the hardest during the licensing process (at Indian Pond) got what they wanted."
"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Moosehead Messenger and is used here with permission."