Lake Hopatcong Commission Head, DEP Agree: Start Drawdowns Later In the Year

The Lake Hopatcong Water Level Management Plan has its supporters and detractors, and each side is expected to make its presence felt when the Lake Hopatcong Commission discusses the plan later this month.

Count Russell Felter, Lake Hopatcong Commission chairman, among the backers of the plan, which was released by the state Department of Environmental Protection in December and will be discussed at the Roxbury Municipal Complex in Ledgewood on Jan. 31 at 6 p.m.

"It's really a well-written report," Felter told Patch Tuesday at the Hopatcong . The commission had scheduled a meeting for Tuesday night, but not enough members showed up for a quorum.

The plan calls for the lake's 26-inch annual drawdown to begin on Nov. 19 instead of Nov. 1 as in the past. The drawdown's start, however, wouldn't be concrete—it could change depending on the lake's water level.

The 5-foot drawdown, which happens every five years to allow for lake property maintenance, would begin on Sept. 22 instead of the day after Labor Day. Like the annual drawdown, the 5-footer's date could change depending on lake levels and could be postponed a year due to a drought.

Felter said there seems to be two points of contention within the report.

"It's funny," said Felter, Jefferson's mayor. "There are a million points in it, and there are two points that are contested: the flow … and the drawdown dates.

"The people in Lake Hopatcong are worried about how much water is going out and the people downriver are worried that it could be adjusted lower."

The Mustconetcong Watershed Association came out with an article against the report's outflow plan in November, calling it "a loophole unacceptable to downstream stakeholders as it encourages continued violation of the minimum passing flow."

DEP member Kerry Kirk Pflugh told Patch Tuesday she hopes to have members from the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife; Parks and Recreation; Water Quality; and New Jersey Geological Survey at the Jan. 31 meeting.

Felter said there will be a public comment session, but that "the report has already been adopted and accepted by the commissioner of the DEP."

"Unless there is a fatal flaw, something that's egregious or that we're unaware of" there won't be any changes to the plan for a while, Pflugh said. "Not to sound like the department, but it's an extremely well-written plan."

Pflugh added that the plan isn't set in stone, however.

"If there's something awful that's happening in regards to the outflow, it will be reported and we'll take a look at it," she said.