Folks along our portion of the Susquehanna (Lake Clarke) may have noticed an extremely low water level today. Brookfield Renewable, operator of the Safe Harbor Dam, is responsible for the drawdown.
The painted scale (shown above) on one of the piers of the Veterans Memorial Bridge read about 223 feet at 4:42 this afternoon. (In previous years, 227 on the scale was marked as “normal.”)
A sign posted near the River Park boat ramp stated that water levels at Lake Clarke will be lowered from October 23 through October 25 and will begin to rise again on October 26.
The following is an excerpt from a post on the Brookfield Renewable website:
Be aware that diving into the waters of Lake Clarke is dangerous due to fluctuating lake levels, shallow waters, river currents, and submerged debris. Please note that on October 24th & 25th, there will be a drawdown on Lake Clarke to approximately 222.0 feet. Water will start coming back up on October 26th.
No reason is specified for the drawdown.
Children play on an outcropping of the shoreline today caused by the recent drawdown.
Unfortunately, the low water level revealed another dead eel – this one in one piece.
Here’s a temporary peninsula uncovered by the drawdown.
There was a wider shoreline this afternoon, as seen here under the Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Here’s another view of the shoreline, with Columbia River Park in the background.
Columbia Spy 