Homeowners living on Dover’s Silver Lake have a couple of weeks to clean up around their property and schedule maintenance on their docks.
That's because the annual drawdown of the lake is underway.
Silver Lake holds millions of gallons of water - water that is the source for the St. Jones River.
And each year, the City of Dover draws down the lake by at least two feet.
“Prior to drawing it down, we send out notices to all those who own property around the lake and also the boaters who utilize the lake - because we need to close the boat ramp during that time because the water level’s too low to get the boats in,” said Robin Eaton, director of Dover’s Parks and Rec Dept.
He says the drawdown allows the estimated 90 homeowners to clean up vegetation or trash and other debris from their shorelines and docks.
Eaton explains what happens as the drawdown drops the lake level.
“At the bottom…the base on the riverside of the dam, there’s about a two-foot gate that opens up. We have a control until out in the lake - about 30- to 40-feet from the dam itself and that controls that valve in the dam. And when it opens up it’s two feet…the water just rushes through that two foot opening,” he said.
Eaton says the estimated 151 boaters who have been issued licenses to fish in the lake are probably the most affected during this two week drawdown. But he notes bass fishing can resume after October 21, 2022.
He notes that there is no real cost to drawing down the estimated 23-acre Silver Lake.
