Several Knickerbocker residents raised concerns about water quantity in the lake and other issues during an Aug. 12 Boothbay Region Water District (BRWD) trustee meeting.  

The main concern of the group was the decreased water level in Knickerbocker, and whether the lake can adequately replenish.  As of Aug. 12, BRWD has withdrawn 19 million gallons, according to General Manager Weston Alley.  

Alley explained that average water usage varies week by week as people use more water during summer's hot and dry periods. Numbers also surge during peak tourist season. However, this does not affect the overall amount of water BRWD takes from the lake. 

According to a meeting handout from BRWD, the Department of Environmental Protection allows BRWD to withdraw 51.5 million gallons from Knickerbocker in a year, limits withdrawals between May 1 to July 1 to 33 million gallons to protect spawning bass, and sets monitoring requirements. BRWD has been using the lake as a water source since 2008, and has not exceeded withdrawal limits. 

Water levels can also be low in the summer due to typical replenishment sources being dry (such as streams) or minimal rainfall, trustees explained.  

“We've got a very good record of both Knickerbocker and Adams (Pond) refilling in the fall (and) winter,” said Vice Chairman Smith Climo.  

Alley said the district would look into posting the water level on its website, as it keeps those records for annual reports. The Knickerbocker Lake Withdrawal report is currently available online. 

One of the attendees, Brian McDonald of Boothbay, discussed reinvesting in local wells and West Harbor Pond to create a more robust water system, as has been previously reported in the Register.

Residents also raised concerns about drought awareness. BRWD said if drought levels progressed to where the public needed to be alerted, information would be on their website and in the Boothbay Register.  

In other business, Alley reported that the finished water flow for the past week reached 1 million gallons a day, compared to last year’s average of 776,000. 

Construction is moving forward with the Hendricks Hill Road water main replacement, which will convert 8,000 feet of seasonal water main to a buried year-round main. Blasting is scheduled to begin in March and paving in April. 

Kathy Jacobs from the Southport Climate Action Team also reached out to trustees to glean any of BRWD’s concerns about climate-related impacts to the region as part of her team’s vulnerability assessment. Jacobs and the trustees decided to have a sit-down meeting at a later date.