ATHOL — “It was a fairly historical amount of rain to receive,” Bill Mehr of the Army Corps of Engineers at Birch Hill Dam said Monday regarding the storm Saturday that dumped 3.70 inches of rain on the campground at Tully Lake on Aug. 12.
He said campers at two sites at the campground were moved to different sites because of the high water, and a third campsite was also underwater.
The boat ramp and dock are completely under water for the time being. “We hope the footing on the dock will stay put,” said Mehr. The dock was built around 2011.
The storm last Wednesday — three days before that — was measured at .31 inches, and an Aug. 9 storm dropped .87 inches of rain.
The storms raised the water at Tully Lake to a level not seen in August in some time, especially ahead of the hurricane season, said Mehr, “but we got a heads up from Reservoir Control on Friday.”
He said flooding is expected with this type of rainfall in such a short period of time, and reports that the Alan E. Rich Environmental Park area and Cass Meadow were under water are normal and expected.
The “pool level” at Tully Lake peaked overnight (last) Saturday to 18.22 feet.
“The normal summer pool level is 16.5 feet,” said Mehr, “We were 1.7 feet higher than where we normally are.”
He said the engineers opened the flood gates Sunday, and by the middle of Monday night, the water level was at 18.04 feet and trending downward.
“We are trying to get it to 16.5 feet,” said Mehr.
He said the flooding of Cass Meadow is typical for this kind of rain event.
“The Meadow is in the flood control zone,” said Mehr. “This is the confluence of Tully and Millers rivers.”
He said Millers River is running at the “Warning” stage at the South Main Street bridge, “but we have plenty of room to go” before the water level becomes a problem downstream.
The engineers are closely monitoring the water levels, as well as Doane Hill Road, which is usually closed due to flooding in the springtime.
With torrential rains hitting different areas several times in the last week, water levels have continued to rise, with local highway departments receiving numerous calls for flooded basements.
More rain is forecast for this week.
Readers have submitted photos of flooding in the area.
Earle Baldwin submitted a photo of the seating area and meadow at the Alan E. Rich Environmental Park, which were inundated with water Monday morning.
Jacki Caron took photos of flooding on White Pond (on the Athol side) from heavy rains that fell overnight Aug. 11. They show the water completely covering the beach area (where the lawn chairs were placed. The water was still rising after the picture was taken.
Caron reported that the water rose enough to lift their boat and carry it across the water. The hook from a fishing pole left in the boat snagged a branch and stopped its progress and the boat was recovered.