NJDEP Drafts Alternate Plan To Refill Lake Hopatcong

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has drafted a modified drawdown plan for Lake Hopatcong in order to counteract less than average precipitation. The body of water failed to reach its "full pool" status following its annual drawdown, which can be detrimental for rivers it feeds as well as for docks, bulkheads, and shoreline, according to the NJDEP.

Over the last two years, according to the NJDEP, Lake Hopatcong failed to reach full pool because of unusual weather patterns, primarily lack of precipitation. In 2015, the lake was four inches shallower than it should have been, and this year, the full pool was missed by three inches. The NJDEP drafted a plan to save water in the lake without harming surface water quality standards to the Musconetcong River or causing other issues.

The NJDEP is proposing the following:

1. Reduce the annual winter drawdown for lakefront property owner ice protection from 26” to 22.” As the lake is refilled by direct precipitation, reducing the extent of the annual drawdown is the most effective way of improving lake refill. (It should be noted that the last time annual drawdown was altered was in 1990, from 30” to 26,” due to a four-inch deficit in refill)

2. Replace current outflow reduction threshold “90-day spring precipitation below 7 inches”with “from ice out until April 30, provided stream flows are at or above median levels.” Provided there are minimal impacts to downstream resources. When 90-day precipitation is below 7 inches, stream flows are low and often, no adjustment can be made without jeopardizing downstream resources. The current plan does not allow a reduction to the outflow when stream flows are good or even high. 90-day precipitation totals shift considerable from one day to the next.

Depending on weather conditions, according to NJDEP, the lake will probably benefit with somewhere between 4 to 6inches in lake level each spring with these proposed changes.

NJDEP sent letters to Lake Hopatcong community members in order to advise them of these plans and to seek support for the plan, which would affect drawdown this fall and the refill in the spring. The proposal was present at the July meeting of the Lake Hopatcong Commission.

All affected and interested community members are invited to a public hearing, to be held on Monday, September 19, in Jefferson.

Image via culturejam23, Wikipedia, used under Creative Commons.