Dam Dilemma: Who Mows the Lake?

DENNISVILLE — Residents of a campground here are angry that their ability to refer to their homes as “lakefront” condominiums is slowly washing away.
Tom Hannigan, of the Holly Lake Condo Association Board of Trustees, told the Herald a faulty dam is causing Ludlam Pond to drain.
Ludlam Pond is a 54-acre body of water that abuts the campground used primarily as recreation for Holly Lake residents and other adjacent homeowners. Hannigan estimated the water level was five feet below normal and has been low for nearly two years.
Holly Lake Manager Charles Scarpa said that while the pond was normally shallow, it did reach up to nine feet at its deepest points.
When the Herald visited the site on Sept. 4, Scarpa looked across the wide expanse of water with grasses and stumps exposed above the surface and said, “I could walk across this pond right now.”
The high-water line was obviously down several feet at the pond’s small beach and visible on exposed trees.
“This water used to be filled with boaters and swimmers, but nobody uses it anymore,” Hannigan said. But Hannigan said the low water level affects more than just recreation.
Safety, wildlife and property sales are also being hurt.
According to Scarpa, one concern from the low water is fire safety.
“We have pipes coming from the pond that the fire department would use to fight a fire in the campground,” Scarpa said. “One of the intake pipes in the pond is only two inches from the water surface. I’m no engineer, but that doesn’t sound like enough room to prime the water pumps.”
Another safety concern is bugs.
“With the water level so low, the back end of the pond is more like a swamp now and the mosquitoes are terrible,” he said. “People have been stuck in their houses.”
Not only a nuisance, mosquitoes can also transmit diseases such as eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus among others, according to the county Department of Mosquito Control.
Scarpa said the low water not only brought out the mosquitoes, it also chased away a lot of frogs, fish and waterfowl since the area’s ecology has changed.
“The effect on wildlife has been very noticeable,” Hannigan agreed.
According to Coldwell Banker Realtor Patricia Smith, the pond’s water level is also negatively affecting home sales at the campground.
“One client who was looking here recently asked me if anyone mows the lake,” she said speaking of the grass that breaks the surface in the low water.
Smith said that 32 of the site’s 342 units were currently on the market.
Hannigan said he is looking to township and state officials to help the Holly Lake community with this ongoing problem.
“As a community, we pay nearly $400,000 in property taxes and we don’t get anything in return,” Hannigan said. “The township doesn’t collect our trash or maintain our streets.”
They just need some help in dealing with the state to get the Ludlam Pond dam fixed.
When the Herald contacted Dennis Township, Municipal Clerk Jacqueline Justice said the pond and its dam fell under state jurisdiction.
Hannigan has been in contact with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Transportation (DOT).
State dams generally fall under the purview of the DEP’s Bureau of Dam Safety and Flood Control. The bureau’s primary goal is to ensure the safety and integrity of state dams in order to protect people and property from the consequences of dam failures.
The bureau reviews plans and specifications for the construction of new dams and the repair of existing dams. The bureau must grant approval before any dam work is done.
The DOT is also involved with the Ludlam Pond dam because it is located directly below a bridge built in 1928 that carries a state highway, Route 47.
In a DEP letter to a DOT engineer regarding the pond’s water loss, Dam Safety Manager John Moyle said “the dam appears to be in sound condition and we suggest that the water loss requires further investigation by the NJDOT.”
DOT spokesperson Erin Phalon told the Herald her agency inspected the dam in April and found that no repairs were necessary.
When the Herald toured the Ludlam Pond dam and a neighboring dam on Johnsons Pond, also located on Route 47, water appeared to be spilling from the sides of the Ludlam dam at a far greater rate than at the Johnsons dam.
There also appeared to be water bubbling up from a spot a few feet in front of the Ludlam dam, which Scarpa said was “the dam being undermined.”
The residents of Holly Lake want the state study the Ludlam Pond dam further and fix the problem so they can enjoy their waterfront properties again.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com