A denial from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will not deter those hoping to install an augmentation well to raise the level of Waumegah Lake.
An April 1 letter from MDEQ district supervisor Mary Vanderlaan said the well, if approved, ‘would have significant adverse impacts on the natural resources associated with Waumegah Lake and the contiguous wetlands.?
The lake, which straddles the Springfield-Independence township border, has been a topic of debate ? and legal action ? since 1996 when a retention dam failed.
Since then, a number of lake owners have attempted to see the lake level restored, and have used as leverage a 1997 order from Oakland County Circuit Judge Rudy Nichols establishing a legal lake level of 1,049.9 feet.
In the meantime, some residents claimed the proposed augmentation well would threaten groundwater throughout the area for the benefit of only a few.
At a Jan. 6 public hearing, DEQ officials said they had no authority to rule based on the impact to groundwater supplies, only the contiguous wetland area.
Vanderlaan’s letter said the augmentation well would violate sections of Parts 301 and 303 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act by raising the lake to a level ‘significantly higher than the historic or natural high water mark of the lake. It also cited the Lake Waumegah Improvement Board’s failure to provide a full ‘wetland delineation? study to help the DEQ in their deliberations.
Dr. Paul Haduck, president of the lake board, directed all questions to newly-hired attorney Charles Dunn, who countered Vanderlaan’s letter with a March 23, 2004 DEQ ‘staff guidance? memo implying there would be no problem with the well as long as it did not cause the lake to rise about the legal level.
In addition, Dunn said, the DEQ issued a permit to allow construction of a replacement dam, recognizing the 1,049.9-foot level.
Dunn said the lake board declined to pay for a full wetland delineation study because it was not relevant in light of the court order and the DEQ’s previous actions.
‘The board has discussed the matter and will take all necessary action to maintain the lake level contained in Judge Nichols? order,? Dunn said.
Vanderlaan said a petition for a formal appeal hearing must be filed within 60 days. If informal negotiations do not produce a suitable solution, the hearing would lead to a final decision by the director of the DEQ.
With hopes of restoring full recreational activity on the lake, advocates claimed ‘clear evidence? that the lake level was between 1,051 and 1,052 feet before the failure of a dam in 1996.
Loss of existing water and lack of rainfall in recent years have led to a lowering of the level by more than 3 feet. The new dam in 1998 was not sufficient, leading to the proposal for the augmentation well, a device used successful on other area lakes.