Truesdale Lake  

Lake Truesdale
Hydro-Dredging Project

Project Overview
Many homeowners have suggested that dredging is an obvious solution for improving the health of the lake. This project endeavors to determine what can be done and what the impact will be.
A group of homeowners came together to explore dredging their lakefront/cove on the north end of the lake. Cliff Munz led the initiative and reached out to TLPOA and TEA to cooperate with the lake associations and lake management program.
A steering committee was established with representatives from TLPOA, TEA and unaffiliated homeowners to investigate the benefits and costs of dredging. The current members are as follows:

Taka Andrews, Vreeland Cove
Rob Cummings, TEA President
Dave Douglas, north end
Sue Enos, north end
Lara Gorton, TLPOA lake manager
Steve Macaluso, south end
Cliff and Lucille Munz, east side
Laura Sanchick, east side
David Sach, TLPOA President

The following questions were generated from the TRUESDALELAKE.COM website and other sources. The HDIG has provided answers to some of the questions below. We will continue to update lake residents as we learn more.

WHAT IS HYDRO-DREDGING?

Removing sediment from the lake bottom using a suction process and depositing it in appropriate locations around the lake
Quite literally ‘sucking the muck’
Optimally, we would use the dried sediment as top-soil rather than the costly alternative of trucking it off-site

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Dredging would materially improve access to and enjoyment of the lake in shallow, silted-in areas
It would help to maintain property values for everyone in the lake community
Dredging the TLPOA and TEA beaches would improve enjoyment of those common areas

HOW DOES DREDGING FIT INTO THE LAKE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM?

Dredging is not a “silver bullet.”
Dredging would not replace regular lake management for weeds or algae but would be supplemental to other best practices like shoreline planting, septic maintenance, eliminating lawn fertilization, etc.
The overall ecosystem in Truesdale Lake will not change dramatically and will still be affected by weather, periods of extreme heat, lack of rain, nutrient load from the watershed and other contributing factors
Improvement of points of ingress to mitigate sources of sediment is equally important to overall lake health, i.e. paving Boway, the East of Hudson project improvements uphill from TEA beach, maintaining catch basins and storm drains, etc.
Dredging will be considered relative to alternative remediation techniques, including partial draining of the lake. This would enable natural compaction of the silt during the winter (freeze the weed seeds) or dry excavation of the accumulated sediment.

WHY SHOULD EVERYONE IN THE LAKE COMMUNITY CARE?

Property values are directly impacted by the health and appearance of the lake
There is widespread interest in determining if dredging is a viable solution to lake improvement
Improved access to the lake means more enjoyable experience swimming, kayaking, fishing & entertaining

WHY NOW? (need meets readiness)?

Community interest in lake management is at an all-time high due to extreme conditions of the last few years
Lake homeowners among the broader lake community have expressed interest and contributed to exploring the possibility of dredging

WHERE IS DREDGING NEEDED?

The object of this project is to determine where dredging could be most effective and provide cost/benefit analysis
Sediment collects in certain areas like inlets, coves and particularly the south end of the lake where there’s not a lot of water flow or current to move it out, causing those areas to be more shallow, weedy and collect algae.
Initial conclusions are that targeted dredging would improve lake access and enjoyment of the lake but that significant dredging to deepen the overall lake would be required to materially change lake conditions and would raise additional constraints and prohibitive costs

WHAT IS OUR PLAN?

Phase 1 – Schematic Design
Project scope & phasing alternatives
Sediment storage alternatives
Alternative financing options

Phase 2 – Design Development
Specific permitting requirements
Environment mitigation plan
Refined project plan (phasing)
Refined cost estimates & financing options

Phase 3 – Required Permitting
Answers to all stakeholder questions
Go / no go decision

Phase 4 – Dredging Planning

Phase 5 – Dredging

PHASE 1 IS UNDERWAY WITH A CIVIL ENGINEER TO DETERMINE SCOPE, FEASIBILITY AND POSSIBLE SITES FOR DREDGING

WHO IS GOING TO PAY?

Funds for the initial scope analysis in Phase 1 were collected from interested homeowners after the last public meeting
Recommendations from Phase 1 are expected to determine scope and estimates of further funding that will be required
Truesdale is a private lake and as such, there is no public funding available. Grants require municipal fund matching that has not been available to Truesdale in the past

WHAT IS NEXT?

Schedule a public meeting in January/February to review conclusions from Phase 1 analysis with Kate Throckmorton from Environmental Land Solutions, James Gorman from Pond and Lake Connections who has been contracted to provide lake treatment in 2018, and the HDIG.

Explore alternatives as a part of the long-term lake management plan, i.e. modify the outflow of the dam to regularly lower the lake level in winter. The replacement of a gated by-pass drain near the dam or a siphoning system would probably be necessary in order to lower the lake enough in winter to expose and freeze a significant amount of the shoreline sediment. ELS is in the process of getting an estimate of costs for engineering, permitting and installing a drain. We will also explore the possibility of “dry removing” sediment from areas around the lake shore. We will continue to keep everyone informed about this alternative when we find out whether it is feasible and how much it would cost.

Work with the town to keep the lake drains and settling ponds clear so that future sediment going into the lake is reduced.

Explore alternative ways of removing algae accumulation during the summer.

HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?

Learn about the project ( read other informative posts www.Truesdalelake.com)

Raise questions, be open to listen to responses, advocate with the Town, consider participation in funding

Contact anyone in the HDIG with questions, comments or interest

Dear Truesdale Lake Resident,

Last June and this past September, TLPOA and a small group of Truesdale Lake residents held two public meetings to determine if there was enough interest from lake residents to explore the possibility of dredging some areas of Truesdale Lake. Our goal was to see if dredging and removing accumulated sediment from areas of the lake bottom would be a feasible and affordable solution to improve the appearance and health of the lake. Thanks to a $3000 donation from TLPOA as well as donations from many individual residents we were able to raise approximately $6000 to hire a consultant,Kate Throckmorton from Environmental Land Solutions, to advise us. A group of 10 people representing all areas of the lake, the Hydro-dredging Initiative Group (HDIG), has been working with a consultant and meeting regularly all fall to thoroughly explore the possibility of dredging.

The format of this update is two-fold. First, below, there is short summary of the presentation our consultant, Kate Throckmorton of Environmental Land Solutions, gave to the HDIG in November to discuss progress, recommendations and next steps.

Second, many people have visited the Truesdalelake.com website and have submitted questions about the project. We promised to answer the questions as we found answers. Please refer to the FAQ section of the Truesdalelake.com website to find a list of FAQS with the answers we know at this time. We can’t answer all the questions yet but we will continue to keep you updated as we get more information.

        SUMMARY OF THE NOVEMBER PRESENTATION MADE BY KATE THROCKMORTON OF ELS

Kate has surveyed the lake to identify locations that are candidates for dredging (hot spots) and storing the sediment.
We learned that…
Dredging may not have the effect on the overall health of the lake that we had hoped because we would not be dredging at sufficient depth to make a difference.
That said, dredging should still be considered as an alternative to eliminating the sediment that has built up in select locations. This would improve the appearance and usability of the lake.

Partial draining the lake has moved to the fore as a complementary or alternative approach. This would enable either natural compression of the sediment or the ability to dry-excavate the same select locations. Repairing the dam by-pass drain at the north end of the lake (or finding another way to significantly lower the lake) would probably be necessary to drain the lake enough in winter to expose the hot spots of sediment around the lake.
Lastly, we discussed in-season treatment options that should be considered whether we dredge / drain or not
Next steps…
Work with Kate to estimate the maximum volume of silt to be dredged and identify drying locations. Given that the latter is likely our binding constraint, work with her to prioritize where dredging would have the greatest impact.
Kate to assist with identifying the viability of partial draining, including; permitting requirements and engineering.
Consider the most effective ways of limiting sediment from continuing to enter the lake and working with the town to achieve this.

We are on schedule to hold our next Lake-wide information session early in the new year. Please feel free to ask questions directly to any of us or through the website.

Thank you for your interest and support in this project,

The HDIG

Taka Andrew, Vreeland Cove
Rob Cummings, TEA
Dave Douglas, north end
Sue Enos, north end
Lara Gorton, TLPOA
Steve Macaluso, south end
Cliff and Lucille Munz, east side
David Sachs, TLPOA,
Laura Sanchick, east side

The Hydro-Dredging Project Group of nine people, representing all three associations as well as unaffiliated lake residents, met this past Thursday to discuss the plan to hydro-dredge the hot spots on Truesdale Lake.

We have already begun the first of five distinct phases of this project.  Environmental Land Solutions has been hired to develop a schematic design which will help us understand the scope, funding implications, and data required to obtain the necessary permits before we can begin dredging.

Phase 1 will be completed before the end of the year.  At that time we will share the findings and recommendations of ELS with you before proceeding to the next phase.  There will be information posted on this website as well as a meeting open to the public scheduled sometime in December or early January.

In the coming weeks we will ask you to complete a short survey to ensure our recommendations have considered your specific questions and concerns.  The invitation will be sent via Nextdoor Truesdale and the survey will be available for completion on this website, Truesdalelake.com.  In addition we will post FAQ responses on this website as we find the answers to your questions.

Please reach out to anyone in our group or submit questions on this website if you have additional questions or concerns.

Best regards,  The Hydro-Dredging Project Group

Taka Andrews ( Vreeland)

Rob Cummings (TEA president)

Sue Enos (TLPOA)

Dave Douglas (TLPOA)

Lara Gorton (Lake Manager)

Steve Macaluso ( unaffiliated lake resident)

Cliff Munz (TLPOA)

Lucille Munz (TLPOA)

David Sachs (TLPOA president)

Laura Sanchick (TEA)