2015 Drawdown Information for Lakes Lillinonah, Candlewood

FirstLight will drawdown Lake Zoar at the Stevenson Dam power station for 9 days beginning on October 24, 2015, returning water levels to normal elevation on November 1, 2015, Southbury officials stated.

Beginning on November 2, 2015 FirstLight will begin its annual drawdown of Lake Lillinonah at the Shepaug Dam to conduct maintenance and inspection activities. The drawdown will lower lake levels to minimum pond levels for 7 days, returning to normal elevation on November 8, 2015.

Candlewood Lake drawdowns will begin as well.

Article 403 in FirstLight’s license states:

“Candlewood Lake operating levels. The licensee shall operate Candlewood Lake levels between elevations 425.1 and 427.6 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) during the summer recreation season (Memorial Day through October 15) with a winter drawdown to an elevation in a range between 424.0 feet NGVD and 416.0 feet NGVD, with the caveat that actual drawdown elevation limits in any given winter are to be determined by the licensee in consultation with a technical committee comprised of the licensee, representatives of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Candlewood Lake Authority.”

Larry Marsicano, Executive Director of the Candlewood Lake Authority, said, “The elevations listed above are a little different than what most are used to because of differences in vertical datums. These change over time as sea level changes. They translate to 427 to 429.5 feet based on the vertical datum used when the lake was created which is what the community is used to.”

The summer lake levels are 427 to 429.5 (CL&P datum) compared to the winter drawdown levels of 425.9 to 417.9 feet.

Photo: Candlewood Lake, Brookfield, Conn. Credit: Wendy Mitchell