Newsletters

At our Executive Meeting on October 26, 2003, we decided to publish four newsletters per year - April, June, August, and October. The newsletters will be distributed in both hard copies and on the website, which is our preferred method as it is the cheapest.

I have had several offers of help which I will follow up for next year. There was Association enough news for this edition to fill it up.

Lake Level

Patterson Lake water levels is our burning issue. We spent a long time discussing it at our Executive Meeting but really couldn't come to grips with how high is high or how low is low.

Lake level is important for some areas of the Lake: the east end is shallow and needs higher levels in the Summer for their motor boats; the west end on the south side suffer considerable damage undermining trees and washing away shorelines from high Summer levels.

The water level is always high in the Spring and late Fall, and low in the Summer and early Fall. That is life on a headwater lake. For Patterson Lake data kept by Connie & I since 1995 for the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey shows there is an average of 560 mm (22") from the highest level to the lowest level. That is a considerable variation for a lake full of killer rocks.

Our data is based on a rock off the Crown Point near where we have our cottage on the north-central side. This summer, we managed to obtain the level for the bottom of the culvert at the east end and for the shoal rock off Mary's Island in the middle of the Lake. With those two readings, we were able to correlate our data.

The lowest readings since 1995 in inches relative to the culvert bottom are shown below:

Note that the negative readings mean that water level was below the culvert so no water flowed out of the lake.

By the way, after going around this issue for a while, I have come to the conclusion that the only practical common ground base point at the moment is the bottom of the culvert at the east end. Our favourite rocks, posts, dock markers, etc. are not meaningful to others on the Lake. Comments like it was lower or higher last year without giving a time or amount are not very helpful. Good recorded data from some known point is the best kind to keep. And you can convert it to the culvert bottom.

The graph below shows the 1995 to 2002 average versus the 2003 water level. The beaver dam made a difference.

Finally on lake level, the Executive made the decision to keep the culvert clear until next July 1, and then meet and make a decision. The cleaners for the rest of 2003 are: November 1 to 7 - Martyn; November 8 to14 - Lorne; November 15 to 21 - Terry; November 22 to 28 - Bill; November 29 to December 5 - Dave. Now that doesn't mean that we will do it alone, it just means that our road areas will be responsible for clearing during that week. We will set another roster in April so expect that some time next year help will be expected.

Silt Depth

On the opposite end of water level is the depth of the silt at the east end of the Lake. From a kayak, I easily pushed my double bladed paddle down seven feet just off the creek entrance, and I didn't hit anything except mush. It would be great to be able to walk on water there because you sure can't walk on the bottom. It makes you wonder how deep it is, and how long it has been there. Why has it never hardened? Why does it not get harder to push the further down you go? It is something for next year, and hopefully as well I can take a core sample to see what is there.

Hazzard Marking

Martyn Howard has been busy looking at marking our killer rocks, with the shoal rock off Mary's Island being the most known. Most rocks are marked by somebody now so Martyn would like to know who marks what rocks. You can contact Martyn at his address below or phone 278-2015.

And speaking of Martyn, we were delighted to see him offer to run as the Councillor for Ward 3. We wish him the best.

Addresses - PIN on the Lake

Well my 151 Lakeside Road is up on my dock deck, thanks to my Son-in-law Trevor Dee, a craftsman with the router. So far that is the only one I've seen.

Now that the boats and docks have been taken out, we are really at a loss trying to describe where we live on the Lake. So how about a PIN sign for Christmas?

Lake Association Representatives

In the listing below, "(H)" means "home" and "(L)" means "Lake".

Rhodena Bell
Box 32
MacDonalds Corners, ON K0G 1M0
(H)267-5291 (L)278-2562
purdonbell@perth.igs.net

Bill Brooks
484 Porcupine Way
Box 61,
McDonalds Corner, ON K0G 3G0
278-2705

Lorne Bowerman
(L) 151 Lakeside Road
(H) 6 Lipstan Ave
Nepean, ON K2E 5Z3
(H)225-7904 (L)278-2813
bowerman@magma.ca

Dave MacCrimmon
399 Hardwood Ridge Road
RR3
Lanark, ON K0G 1K0
278-0184

Martyn Howard 521 Parsons Lane
RR3
Lanark, ON K0G 1K0
278-2015

Terry Wilkie
(L)636 Fair's Lane
54 Helena St
Ottawa, ON K1Y 3N1
(H)729-1253

This Newsletter was produced by Lorne Bowerman. Comments, suggestions, or articles are welcome.