Editor’s note: The Lakeville Journal is presenting a series of articles about a dispute over a protected property in the Twin Lakes section of Salisbury. Our goal is to explain the situation as it is seen from all sides.
This week’s article focuses on whether removal of a section of an old railroad causeway could improve lake health.
For past articles on this topic, go to www.tricornernews.com. Look for a history of the railroad that used the causeway, by Rob Buccino, in our issue of Jan. 14.
SALISBURY — A dispute over whether a Salisbury landowner can amend a conservation agreement on his property continues to raise strong feelings.
One group opposes any changes to any such agreements, fearing that if changes are allowed by one person, it will set a precedent that will allow other landowners to ignore restrictions on their land.
The owner of the property in question claims that removing an old railroad causeway on his property will improve the health of West Twin Lake. Members of the Twin Lakes Association and owners of property along the shores of West Twin have expressed hopes that the owner, Jeffrey Keenan, is correct.
But Michael Klemens, a Salisbury resident who has spent more than three decades integrating science into land use and public policy decisions, feels that it’s not the causeway that’s impacting the lake; it’s the dam.
He also is concerned that different interest groups are making claims about what is best for the lake that are not based on research and science.
“This is not an issue of those who live on the lakes and those who do not, but an issue of taking actions that will support the health of the lake based on science, not conjecture, and certainly not on the whim of a single individual,” Klemens said.
The dam on West Twin
Klemens believes it is the dam on the upper arm of the West Twin Lake (also known as Lake Washinee) that limits the outflow of Lake Washinee’s waters — not the abandoned railroad causeway. He feels that Keenan’s claims that removing the causeway are disingenuous and that the real reasons for wanting the break the conservation easement on the causeway (which was put in place in 1990) is Keenan’s desire to improve the view from his property and keep boats farther away from his house.
Klemens’ opinion on the cause of the low water levels in West Twin is based on a review of published studies, maps and remote sensing imagery.
His investigation included a careful reading of a 105-page Twin Lakes management plan from 2015 that was funded through a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) grant.
“In that report, it is clearly stated that the dam is the major contributing factor [to lake health problems], not the causeway,” Klemens said.
He said he is surprised that data contained in the 2015 lake study “has not surfaced” in presentations by Keenan about his proposal to remove a 400-foot section of the causeway.
Keenan has made several presentations about his plan, and has done radio and newspaper interviews. He recently hosted a video presentation to the Twin Lakes Association by his lead environmental consultant, Timothy Abbott, who is a respected local land conservation expert and who works with the Housatonic Valley Association and leads its Greenprint program (the presentation and other documentation relating to Keenan’s plan can be found online at https://bit.ly/rrcauseway).
Questions
of science
Klemens attended the Dec. 21 Zoom meeting for the Lake Association members.
He noted that Abbott (Keenan’s consultant), “carefully outlined, despite repeated interruptions, the scope of research that would be required to answer the many scientific questions about the proposed project, and made a clear distinction between conservation benefits versus recreational and aesthetic concerns of lake property owners.”
Abbott, said Klemens, was also quite clear that this process “would involve detailed studies, a hierarchy of regulatory approvals, and was precedent-setting in the physical diminishment of the actual amount of land under conservation easement.”
In an interview last week, Abbott acknowledged that the 2015 Twin Lakes study “contains valuable data, but there is more to talk about. I don’t argue that the dam has had an impact on the flow of the lake, but there are other factors to consider.” Five years ago, he said, “no one was considering a world where part of that causeway might not be there.”
He said an additional lake evaluation, to be commissioned by the landowner, would likely not take place until the second half of 2021. “It may well be, at the end of the day, that there are more important things that can be done than to remove a section of the causeway. But we have more science to get and evaluate.”
“While many people were listening, judging by the tenor of the remarks made by his client and those who spoke, few internalized the complexity of the process Mr. Abbott was outlining,” Klemens said, adding that his main concern “is that something is being contemplated where there is little scientific foundation.”
Lakes are twins —
but not identical
Contrary to Keenan’s stated belief that the causeway is causing harm to West Twin Lake, Klemens noted that, “The lake is not dying — but it is experiencing at its outlet north of the causeway quite a bit of siltation.”
During the Zoom presentation in December, several Lake Association members commented that the level of silt has risen by several inches in West Twin.
“West Twin is a different lake than East Twin,” Klemens noted. “It is a shallow, warm-water lake. West Twin doesn’t have that kind of water turnover, it never did.”
He pointed to key differences in the limnology of the two lakes. East Twin (which is about 569 acres and is also known as Lake Washining) has a maximum depth of more than 80 feet and is deep enough to allow seasonal water turnover. By comparison, West Twin (which is about 290 acres) is at most, 24 feet deep — a quarter of the depth of East Twin.
During the December Zoom presentation, property owners on West Twin said they want the water level to be higher in their lake; but property owners on East Twin have indicated that they want a lower water level on their lake.
“Removing the causeway will not markedly remedy the conditions at the outflow of the lake,” Klemens said. “The flow problem is a result of the dam,” which is located at the end of the lake’s upper arm, on Taconic Road, he said.
“Opening the dam, and drawing down the lake would achieve a much more rapid exit of water” — into both West Twin and East Twin.
Lake plan
‘dismisses’ claims
Klemens noted that the 2015 Twin Lakes Data Analysis and Management Plan “clearly dismisses” Keenan’s belief that the causeway (which is specifically protected, in perpetuity, under the 1990 Conservation Restriction Agreement between former landowner Mary Alice White and The Nature Conservancy) is detrimental to the north portion of Lake Washinee.
“The current condition of the lake is more likely a result of over-development and clearing around the lake, coupled with the outlet being clogged and dammed,” Klemens said. “Yes, there is some problem on both sides of the causeway with water lilies, which could be removed.”
Klemens said research points to two solutions to lake residents’ water-quality concerns: Dredging the upper portion of the lake would solve the siltation problem and increase water flow; and clearing the water lilies around the end of the 2,000-foot causeway would improve/widen the rowing lane. A rowing lane has been designated through the area, which passes between the end of the causeway and Keenan’s property.
Klemens’ analysis, supported by the lake management study, also cites lawns and septic systems as contributors to the increasing deterioration of West Twin: A recently published aerial image taken one or two years ago shows that portions of the Washinee Heights peninsula have been deforested and replaced by lawn down to the lake’s edge. An image taken from Google Earth shows a distinct plume of silt run-off from recent construction activities on Washinee Heights. Other, smaller plumes associated with residences that have lawns down to the lake’s edge are also visible.
Burden of proof
rests with Keenan
Klemens maintains that the causeway proposal, as it stands, lacks merit.
“It’s a narrative that doesn’t hold up to scientific scrutiny. If Mr. Keenan has data that refutes the 2015 lake management study, he should show us the data that supports his cause and why it disagrees with the study conducted by objective ecologists.”
He further noted that Keenan’s representatives have appeared before the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) in the past seeking unrelated land-use approvals. Klemens is the longtime chair of that commission.
“Regarding two written statements made by Jeffrey Keenan that I oppose everything he does. That’s simply not true, and is borne out by the publicly available minutes of our meetings. When he appears before our commission, I merely ask that he adhere to the 10% impervious coverage requirements in the Lake Protection Overlay District in the same manner as all the other residents surrounding the Twin Lakes do.
“I also recently requested that he adhere to the zoning regulations, as do all the residents of Salisbury, as they pertain to pre-existing non-conforming structures such as the gazebo [on the causeway].
“The Planning and Zoning Commission applies the regulations consistently to every applicant,” he said.
Outflow solutions
don’t involve causeway
Klemens said his opposition to Keenan’s plan is as a private citizen well-versed in ecology and conservation, not as a member of P&Z. He said he felt compelled to dispel the single-cause myth surrounding Lake Washinee’s sluggish water flow.
“People are viewing this as the only solution, if in fact it’s a solution at all,” he said. “I don’t think [shortening the causeway] will achieve the results hoped for,” Klemens said.
He also pointed to the years of studies and approvals that will be needed to remove the causeway. “Permitting for dredging and debris removal at the outflow,” he noted, “is a comparatively quick approval process, especially as the outflow’s problems at or near the dam are repeatedly cited in the 2015 report funded by the DEEP. Wouldn’t it make sense to try that first?”
A hearing on work that Jeffrey Keenan has done on the causeway without permits from the Inland Wetlands Conservation Commission was held Monday night, Jan. 4. Coverage of that meeting will be in the Jan. 14 issue of The Lakeville Journal.
A lake study done in 2015 offers reasons why the health of West Twin Lake (Lake Washinee) has deteriorated and theories on how to improve it. At question is a causeway, circled in the map above as a white spit extending into the water. Image courtesy of DEEP
This map shows East Twin Lake (Lake Washining). Image courtesy of DEEP
A lake study done in 2015 offers reasons why the health of West Twin Lake (Lake Washinee) has deteriorated and theories on how to improve it. At question is a causeway, circled in the map above as a white spit extending into the water. Image courtesy of DEEP
"Cow," by Joelle Sander.Cornwall Library
Lala TamarProvided
