With the new construction plus existing homes it is getting harder to find a release point but we don't want our pack rat problem to become someone else problem. Driving back home again we noted that there are covenant violations on almost every home. We find that sad as with so many clearly visible it will make our covenants hard to enforce now. It appears that people just do what they want and hence the multiple violations. In the past the people didn't get along well together but at least they complied with the covenants. That is what happens when you have a partisan environmental control committee who selectively enforces covenants mainly against those whom they don't like or hold a grudge against. Sort of reminds me of our Federal Government which seems to be equally partisan.
I think the saddest part however is seeing our big lake dry because someone in the association decided to drain it to see what the bottom was like and it has now gone past the tipping point and will remain dry for a very long time if not forever. It pays to consider the consequences for your actions and look forward as to what impact those actions will have in the future. I have seen this done in the past in another area I lived in and the lake never did come back as its source dried up.
6 comments:
How did they drain the lake and why did they do it? Is the lake spring fed or does the water come from run off?
There is a dam at the low end of the lake that has a valve that was used drain
the lake. The lake is not spring fed but seems to get its water from a swampy area that is fed by a creek that must have changed course or dried up when the equilibrium of the lake changed. They said they wanted to get a study of the bottom of the lake so it was drained. It is a surface lake that depends on multiple sources such as the swampy area which is may be fed by small creeks. Beyond that I don't know much about the lake but feel sorry for those with property around the area.
Since the lake is dry now, could it be excavated a bit and lined with clay to hold runoff better? ...Though the State would probably not allow that unless it could be argued that it is crucial for fire mitigation.
Good suggestions. Not sure how the association could handle whatever the costs associated with a project like that as still recovering from the Spring Wildfire. Most grants are matching funds.
The Big Lake had to be drained to get samples from the bottom as part of a study to prove it was a natural water holding system of some historical merit due to Colorado Water Rights issues that were never secured when the dam was installed. Trinchera Ranch has the water rights to the streams/watershed drainage that feeds the Big Lake and the Big Lake (and other FPLOA ponds) water rights had to be negotiated in order to secure the long-term viability of the lake. This has mostly been or is in the process of being completed successfully and the Big Lake water rights will be secured but as part of that process the Big Lake had to be drained and samples taken from the bottom. There is a nice breakdown of this on the FPLOA website if you are truly curious about why the Big Lake was drained. The Lake (and all "springs" in Forbes Park) is fed mainly from snow melt and water drainage over the meadow across to Wagon Creek/National Forest. As you mentioned, we had half the usual snow last winter and now all of CO is in (and has been) a severe drought. If we can get a few normal snow years and monsoon seasons then the Big Lake will fill up again.
Thank you John for the clarification on the big lake. I don't know about half the snowfall as we got about 75% of our normal snowfall. Sadly this all started when the board dammed up Wagon Creek to install a cistern. I was told by the water rights inspector that the water rights owner had allowed us to have full use of the lake and the streams but installation of a dam changed things as to water rights. Had the association not dammed up Wagon Creek none of this would have occurred. I was there and was witness to the entire process.
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