The low level of our lake 2016
 

It seems to me, without specific calculation, that our lake level may be at the lowest I have seen in my fifteen years of lake life. Am I unnecessarily alarmed? Mother Nature is always in control!

NO we should be alarmed. That said, it was lower in 2001.

http://www.bizer.com/bztnews.htm

Outflow increased
 

It looks like the outflow was increased this weekend and we lost almost 2 more inches.

We had to pull our jetskiis this weekend and may have to close the camp.

The Lake water level is down 20.16 inches as of 6 AM this morning, and the outflow was at 293 cfs.

The lack of snow last winter, and rain this spring and summer, placed us in a long term drought situation.

Hopefully, this pattern will break in time for winter sports.

Anyone remember the summer that the level of the lake was so high it was no wake for the season?!

Hurricane Carol
 

I have memories of high and low water over the last 6+ decades. I have no knowledge of anytime there was a speed limit "for the season". Once a water + in July. That's it. Several times early in "the season." Low water now. High water is off topic.

???!
 

Why in the world would they increase the outflow?!!!

I don't think so
 

I have been on the lake some part of or all of every summer since 1970. I don't think that ever happened for the season unless it was before my time.

The lake level was about 18 inches over full lake in July 1998 and it was no wake for Fourth of July week, but then it returned to normal for the remainder of the season.

Well it was about a 20 CFS increase, a rather insignificant amount relative to lake level.
http://www4.des.state.nh.us/Rti_home...E=Lakeport+Dam

Back in the 60's
 

I remember the lake level being very low in midseason. Our dock was dry and we had to beach the boat. The boat had to be moored. Something about the dam was rebuilt or under repair?

Perhaps because people downstream need water too?

I agree its low. I think any major difference in our beloved lake is a cause for concern for most of us here. I just came back from a walk down at the Town Docks and the water is VERY low under the walking bridge. The rocks that are generally submerged with the exception of only a few inches and you can see the water stains at least a foot above where the water is now. We have been in drought, though, so it's not like the lake is hemorrhaging water into some unknown abyss. I'm hoping for a good ice fishing season this year! :cheers:

I understand. Flow is necessary, but we are all hurting. Increasing it doesn't make sense to me.

Nature's Balance
 

Hurricane season isn't officially over till November. One of the forecast models have a storm (currently called 97L) headed our way a week from Friday (October 7'th). All models are wrong, but the potential for an event to refill our pool is not out of the question.

Summer of 1998. I remember because we bought our house in Sept of 1997. I was riding over to Trexler's to get gas (at speed) and wondering why was everyone going so slow. WAKE SPEED! As I recall they did not rescind until well into July.

Attached is a link to the State monitoring station next to the Bridge over Winnisquam. The description at the bottom explains why the flow is maintained at the level it is.
http://www4.des.state.nh.us/rti_home...innisquam+Lake

what I'm about to say it TOTAL speculation on my part: up until Labor day Winnisquam had stayed about its "mean level", I believe this was to maintain the flow through the Hydro dam, but since then the lake level has been dropping and that may be to help the Big lake. So Winnipesaukee should rise when (if) they do the draw down after Columbus day. The big question is what happens after that if we do not get significant rain.

Have faith in Mother Nature. Sure she is showing us who is in charge... But even in 2001 when the lake went low, it filled up in the spring..... We may be in for a snowy winter and mother nature is just helping us prepare.....

Lets hope so after last years dud! cant snowmobile on grass!

Once every 5 years, Merrymeeting is lowered an additional foot to allow for waterfront repair activities. This is one of those years. So you will be happy to know that Merrymeeting has been sending an additional flow your way since about 2 weeks ago.

There must have been a brief shower September 25th, 2001, as the reading for the 26th was up 5/8" from the reading on the 24th.

The September 26, 2001, reading was 2.61'. Today's was a tad lower at 2.60'. Since DES started keeping daily statistics in 1982, only the 1985 reading of 2.53' was lower for September 26th.

WMUR at FBY
 

Saw a WMUR vehicle at Fay's Boat Yard late this afternoon. Understand that they are doing a piece on the low lake level.

Good place for it. I understand the keel sailboats are having trouble with the Smith Cove channel and I know people who had to pull their boats because not enough depth in slips. I had similar trouble at MVYC and had to move within the marina, then just decided to end the season early. Anybody hear anything from local businesses if they are suffering from people closing up early?

Lake height today
 

Pretty low!

Monster Winter!!
 

There is a saying out there that "everything reverts to the mean". If memory serves me, most if not all mild winters and dry summers are followed by a heavy winter and drenching spring. The lake has thrived for hundreds/thousands of years - I can't wait to see how Mother Nature resolves this one. Looking forward to a monster winter!

WMUR Story
 

Not terribly informative but interesting to hear the story about the guy in Moultonboro who couldn't get his boat off the boat lift because the water was so low.

http://www.wmur.com/news/drought-cau...aukee/41838238

Funny, saw a forecast today that had above normal snowfall for the northeast this winter.

I pulled my boat out today. I don't think I had more than two inches of water under the bow of my 25 ft Bowrider. Fortunately, Downing's Landing in Alton Bay still has good depth at the launch area. New concrete planks make for a nice smooth ramp.

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Fay's sent out an advisory this morning for customers with a sailboat with draft over 5' to contact them right away as they may have trouble bringing their boat in.

Based on Bizer's page it looks as if we've hit 2001 levels....and still dropping..

http://www.bizer.com/lakelog.png

Be careful what you wish for. Keep an eye on ( now) tropical storm Matthew.

YES! I remember!

Surely someone here knows the accurate information and dates.

The lake and a few others were only restricted for a few weeks not the entire season.

Best I can remember it was around '98-'99. I agree it was only for a few weeks.

I already posted this earlier. I'm positive of the year. It was our first after buying our house.

I don't have the dates of the restrictions but here's a few examples of why they were necessary.

A submerged dock at Harilla Landing in Moultonboro in 1998 from this old thread:

http://winnipesaukee.com/cam/guess7.jpg

The public docks in Wolfeboro's Back Bay were under water in 2005:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...hiwater002.jpg

The Gazebo in Alton Bay in 2005:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...hiwater006.jpg

The walkway at the Bay Point Inn in Meredith in 2005:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/photopo...hiwater003.jpg

If you want to talk about high water, please start a new thread.0

The Webmaster's site and his rules. I am pretty sure he can post (or remove) anything he wants.

I appreciate the site and the information, and enjoy all that it has to offer. The Webmaster does a GREAT job and works tirelessly to make it something we can all enjoy. I say, let him, or anyone, post whatever they want, whenever they would like as long as it fits within the guidelines of the site.

Many threads take a turn from their initial subject but remain interesting and informative reading. I enjoy learning about, and from, the experiences of others and think the more posts the better!

I agree that it was only for a few weeks. I never remember an entire lake no wake zone for the whole season.

Wow, you've got a pair, don't you? :rolleye1:

Here are the stats for 33 days in 1996. Full lake is 4.32. While not a hard-and-fast rule, the lake-wide NO-WAKE was in place when the level was above 5.00 (or so). While the lake did go above 5.00 in 2005 and 2006, both times were not during prime boating season so there were no restrictions those years.

1998/06/13 3.99
1998/06/14 4.42
1998/06/15 4.70
1998/06/16 4.85
1998/06/17 5.16
1998/06/18 5.20
1998/06/19 5.44
1998/06/20 5.52
1998/06/21 5.53
1998/06/22 5.52
1998/06/23 5.48
1998/06/24 5.42
1998/06/25 5.37
1998/06/26 5.30
1998/06/27 5.37
1998/06/28 5.41
1998/06/29 5.34
1998/06/30 5.30
1998/07/01 5.25
1998/07/02 5.30
1998/07/03 5.27
1998/07/04 5.16
1998/07/05 5.15
1998/07/06 5.05
1998/07/07 5.02
1998/07/08 4.95
1998/07/09 4.86
1998/07/10 4.77
1998/07/11 4.66
1998/07/12 4.54
1998/07/13 4.45
1998/07/14 4.36
1998/07/15 4.29

Yes 1998, we came back from a trip to NC in June to no wake speed. Water over the top of our dock. That lasted no more than a few weeks. It was nice for a while, kayaking with no real worry.

Early summer 1998...
 

Here are some photos around Pine Island of the high water the early part of that summer of '98

Somewhere between what we had then... and what we have now... would be nice! -PIG

NH Dam bureau Lake level tracking
 

2016 Season comes to a close
 

We emptied out "The Breeze" today to put her away for the Winter. The water level made safe boating in and out of Mountain View a little questionable. We had an awesome season this year and have no regrets about the early haul out. We had sunny weekends almost EVERY weekend since Motorcycle Week so no complaints from us!! Great friends great memories awesome Summer. Bring on the pumpkins!!

The Breeze
Wave 'cuz I'll be wavin' back

My wife and I were just saying today how only ONE day this summer was thwarted by rain.

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We're probably gonna be in for a very snowy winter this year. That will fill the lake up

In 98 the no wake was lifted for the July 4th weekend. Many were not happy as the level was still real high.

Indian Head Rock
 

Cruised past Indian Head Rock located on the east shore of Camp Lawrence near the south end of Bear Island on our return to the mainland today. The painted Indian head is high and dry - - enough dry surface to see a belt if he had one! Also, nipple rock, located off the northeast end of Round Island, is now quite revealing. :D

We're pretty much done for the season so no more cruising. Would love it if people posted pictures here of things like this that we rarely see. Great opportunity missed to put new rubber facing on dock posts so it goes down lower on the post.

Just got back from two weeks plus..at the lake today and I read this thread.

BEFORE we left for the lake, I was was watching the WolfeCam a little after NOON..on a day which I can't recall... and The Mount was "sitting" there at the pier at Wolfeboro with no one apparently aboard...and un-moving. The Mount is usually gone from there at 1130 AM.

During our vacation, we learned that the Mount was Aground at the dock for awhile while a large number of charter passengers were either dis- embarked..OR moved to another position on the ship to change the weight distribution...or something.

Maybe four days ago I was observing the Mount approach the dock at Wolfeboro. She made what I thought was a wide approach and couldn't make it in close enough to "walk" the stern over to the aft "dolphin". She had the bow and spring lines ashore..and the gangway aboard. No Go.

She aborted the operation..tossed off all lines and the gangway and backed out into the bay. The second attempt was successful. (There was a Senior Captain aboard.) :) I have spoken with him in the past. He reminds me of the last Master Chief I served with in the navy. Completely competent.

My assessment was ..Maybe there was a "Captain in Training" at the Con.........OR... a berm under the boat. (Low Water). They could not get the boat to "Walk" over to the "Dolphin".

Just an observation from an old Navy man. NB

No Wolfeboro Oct2016
 

Just found this on the cruisenh.com, regarding the Mount's ports of call:

IMPORTANT SCHEDULE CHANGE: Due to unusually low lake levels, we are unable to dock in Wolfeboro. For the remainder of the season we will stop in Alton Bay instead of Wolfeboro.

I find that a little unsettling actually...While the lake is a little lower than normal for this time of year, we are only talking inches, like maybe 6 or 7 inches lower. So are you telling me the Mount cuts it that close?

Dan

Yes she does cut it that close....... at the Bow.... I am sure there is plenty of water at the stern of the boat.... But the water under the bow, in Meredith, Center Harbor, and Wolfeboro, really isn't that deep...I would be willing to bet the lake can't go to much lower before those location become an issue as well.....

Remember She is 230' long....

I was looking at the fact that the Dam has been closed now, for the down stream draw down as normal.... And even with the rain this weekend, the lake really isn't rising.....

I spoke with a ships officer (three stripes) about the draft of the ship. The bow looks like it draws maybe four feet..visually...my observation. He told me the stern draws nearly nine feet..."at cruise speed". ie.The ship "squats" at speed. Although imprecise....That makes perfect sense.

The decision to skip Wolfeboro makes sense. If the ship were to get stuck at the pier...on a berm ("sand bar")...under the ship,....towing her off would be an unlikely event...there are no "Tugboats" on the lake powerful enough to tow her off.

A berm in the Wrong Place under the keel...Uneven support ..with the lake level going down "could"... Break The Back of this old ship. :eek: NB

The hull of This Mount Washington was originally the Chateaugay, built on Lake Champlain in 1888. The Chateaugay was a Walking Beam Side Wheeler Steamer. She was transported over to Winni in sections on rail cars in 1940....To become today's M/S Mount Washington.

There is more history ..for another time. NB

You can read more about it on Cruise NH's web site.

Interestingly though, they link to a thread on this very forum for More history about the Chateaguay

http://www.cruisenh.com/history.php

Hopefully this link will post ok. Picture in today's Laconia Daily Sun shows a boat that was moored in Buzzell Cove, high and dry. Here is the link: http://html5.pagesuite-professional....b-2cb28cf04cd8

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That link wouldn't work for me.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...2428b9b8bd.jpg

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Was the boat "moored" in 2" of water?

I think there's more back story to this picture than the lake is low.

Not necessarily. I took my boat out 3 weeks ago. A 25' bowrider docked at the end of a 60' dock. We pulled the dock last Saturday. When we put the dock in, the water was mid - chest deep (I'm 6' tall). When we took out the dock, the water was knee deep!
Remember, the lake is more than a foot lower than the median for this time of year. I also noticed that the boat appears to be a jet drive, like a Yamaha, and doesn't have the draft that an I/O or OB would have.
Still, ya gotta ask: "What the heck were you thinking? " [emoji50]

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There has to be something else going on here. For that boat to be high and dry the owner must have been away for a long time. There would have to be something serious like an illness to not remember to pull the boat out of shallow water.

Here's the DES water levels for the past few months:
10/21 502.25
9/21 502.75
8/21 503.30
7/21 503.80

Try this link.

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/newsx...land-low-water


Might need to be subscriber for other link.

Thanks
 

This link worked for me. Thanks.

why didn't the water level on Squam Lake not get as low as on Winnipeasauke?

I would think it has to do with the release of water from Winnipesaukee versus Squam. I am not familiar with what dam(s) are on Squam.

Squam's only outlet dam is located at west end of Little Squam Lake in Ashland. The outflow discharge water flows into the Squam River that travels west to the Pemigewasset River, and the dam outflow can easily be seen from nearby Route 25/3, or from River St in Ashland. The dam looks like a well designed and engineered dam construction made with concrete and steel and may even have a hydro-electric turbine in the little shed at the center top of the dam.

Like guess what ..... there is no Squam outflow water discharge as of today. The dam is not discharging any water. Do not know who controls the Squam Dam .... my guess would be the NH-DES.

http://www.squamlakes.org/watershed-...r-service-area

http://www.nhpr.org/post/maintaining...rs-environment

The NH Dept Environmental Service - Lakeport Dam, Lake Winnipesaukee's only outflow dam, located in Laconia is required to maintain a minimum water outflow to supply water to the septic treatment plant in Franklin, plus for some hydro-electric turbines. Without a steady water supply the waste water treatment facility in Franklin could get all plugged up ....... what the poop!

You know that a sewerage treatment plant without enough water is just a whole lot of poop.

If you have a deep drilled well, maybe you want to run a garden hose from your house to the lake to raise the level of the big lake!:)

Dam i didn't know that ! :eek:

Actually FLL, all of the water necessary to operate a wastewater treatment plant is provided with the incoming wastewater from businesses and residences. The Franklin facility is a much more complex operation than most of the general public probably realize. The treated wastewater discharged to the Merrimack River is actually relatively clean.

And what we all have to remember is that a serious event may have very well happened... So Don't judge...

Center Harbor Lake Level picture
 

Thought I would post a picture of our shoreline. The stairs are normally covered up to the 3rd level from the bottom. Lowest lake level I can remember in 60 years. I do have family pictures of this area, with a similar level back in the early 1900s, but that was way before my time.

lake level
 

Hello
how many inches is the lake down as of today
25 +/- inches still or lower

thanks

Up a bit
 

The lake has been hovering at 502.30 give or take an inch for a while. You can see the hourly levels by clicking on the lake levels links from http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/watch.htm.

You can also go to Bizer's site at http://www.Bizer.com
and see the weekly levels and a super chart of the levels over the last several years. He typically updates this on Thursday's with extra updates when something unusual happens. I have a picture of my dock in 2001 about this time of year and the lake was lower than it is today.

IG

Good Time to Fix Things
 

Seems that this would be an ideal time to fix those things that are normally below the water - stairs, walls, and in certain cases previously pictured, moorings.

We have friends who froze their tails off this spring getting in the water and doing work on their dock, stabilizing the dock with a farmer's jack, replacing dock posts, etc. . Now they would be able to walk almost all the way around the dock without getting wet. They did need to do the work on their dock, but oh how easy it would have been now, rather than in the spring.

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Winnisquam has been drawn down lower and longer than expected, but looks like it's on the rise the past few days. The dogs have really liked having beach to run on, but after a few weekends of sand in the house I'm ready to have the water back to the rocks. :rolleye2:

Good rain today
 

The rain today finally got some seasonal streams running, which had remained dry in the past few heavy downpours. Perhaps the ground is finally starting to recharge and runoff to the lake will increase.