Improvements To UConn's Mirror Lake Finally Have A Timetable

STORRS, CT — Improvements to Mirror Lake at the University of Connecticut are finally on the table, albeit a scaled down version.

The UConn Board of Trustees recently approved the use of $4 million in UConn 2000 bond funds for the project.

Mirror Lake has been a a focal point for photo opportunities and just plain old relaxation since 1922. Decades of deferred maintenance, however, has led to silt and sediment accumulating. Also, "significant and unmitigated" development within the lake's Robert Brook watershed has left the stormwater facility undersized since 1993, officials said.

Temporary repairs to a damaged spillway just aren't holding up anymore and a dam recently received an "elevated hazard classification," officials said.

Therefore, "various improvements to Mirror Lake are now essential," officials said.

Numerous studies have called for the University to take action. They include:

• An unimplemented dredging plan in 2012
• A campus master plan and water quality assessment in 2015
• A campus drainage master plan in 2018
• A dam inspection report in 2020

A 2021 feasibility study in 2021 also recommended improvements to the lake and so me pre-construction activities did take place that were completed in fall of 2022 but capital
budget constraints deferred the actual renovations, officials said.

After Trustees approval, a limited scope project is now on track to begin by August 2024 and conclude within 12 months.

The limited scope includes:

• Interim improvements and/or repairs to the dam and spillway due to its hazard class and existing conditions
• Stormwater attenuation and water quality improvements associated with the construction of the two South Campus projects