January 8, 2024 Update

When word got out in 2019 that the private owners of the Lake Jefferson Dam could no longer afford to repair it, a grassroots movement through Facebook became the Lake Jeff Conservation Association, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our purpose was to save the lake by raising money to rehabilitate the dam. 

Then came the revelation that the very design of the nearly 100-year-old dam (which is a “High Hazard Class C” dam because Jeffersonville and Kohlertown lie directly beneath it), does not comply with the safety regulations of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (FERC oversees the dam because it used to generate hydroelectric power.) The fact is, in the face of increasingly severe storms predicted in our region, the current dam no longer appears to mitigate flooding. Consider, for example, the flash flood in 2014 that threatened lives in Jeffersonville and cost two million dollars in damage. Only by building a new dam with a different “labyrinth” spillway design, at a cost of at least two million dollars, could flooding be mitigated for sure and important safety regs be met. 

An October 2010 report titled “Hydrologic and Hydraulic Models East Branch Callicoon Creek and Tributaries, Sullivan County, NY” by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suggests that there is (or could be) an interconnected role of dams, including the Lake Jefferson Dam, in flood control in the Callicoon Creek watershed.

Meanwhile, the dam continues to deteriorate and put people and property downstream at risk.

Currently, the owners of the dam, who bear legal responsibility for it, are working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Administration and a nonprofit organization in the public interest called American Rivers to remove the dam and restore the flow of the Callicoon Creek, all at public expense. A condition of public-expense removal is that the waterway must remain free-flowing in perpetuity. In other words, there must never be another dam built on the site.

This in-perpetuity provision concerns the Village of Jeffersonville Board of Trustees and the Town of Delaware Board, which passed resolutions last year for a comprehensive hydrology study before dam removal to determine if an open waterway would subject Jeffersonville and Kohlertown to the physical dangers and economic risks of chronic flooding forever. Historical accounts of regular flooding from before the dam was built suggest that it might. 

An important step in the process of dam removal is the surrender to FERC, by the dam owners, of their “exemption” (permit) to make hydropower. With this surrender, FERC would release oversight of the dam to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Dam Safety Division, which intends to work with the USFWS and American Rivers to remove the dam.

In the reckoning of the LJCA, there are no villains in this story, only concerned and well-intentioned parties who, in the end, confront a lack of money to replace the dam and are acting as responsibly as they can.

Public Comments Accepted until January 19 

Until January 19, you can share your thoughts with FERC about whether the owners of the dam should be allowed to surrender their exemption. Here’s how. Please reference the dam by name and also by FERC project and file # -- P- 6055-006, P-6055-007, and P-6055-008 -- and submit your remarks according to FERC’s instructions: 

FERC “strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file comments, motions to intervene, and protests using the Commission’s e-Filing system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the e-Comment system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You must include your name and contact information at the end of your comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first page of any filing should include the docket number P-6055-008. Comments emailed to Commission staff are not considered part of the Commission record."

Sept 8, 2023 Update

RESOLUTION ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY OF LAKE JEFF DAM REMOVAL

Via a motion made by Trustee Brian Barlow and seconded by Trustee Greg Brewer the following resolution was adopted to wit:

WHERE, the Village of Jeffersonville and its downstream neighbor, Kohlertown, have been s subjected to increased flooding in recent years from Callicoon Creek, and;

WHEREAS, this flooding has caused significant economic damage to the Village and threatened the safety of its residents, and;

WHEREAS, the dam at Lake Jefferson has been identified as one of a series of interconnected dams providing flood control in the Callicoon Creek watershed in The Army Corp of Engineers October 2010 report “Hydrologic and Hydraulic Models East Branch Callicoon Creek and Tributaries, Sullivan County, NY, and;

WHEREAS, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation are working to remove said dam and restore Callicoon Creek to a free-flowing condition with the stipulation that no dam replace the existing one in perpetuity, and;

WHEREAS, the Village of Jeffersonville is concerned that removal of said dam and perpetual restriction on the establishment of a new dam will increase the frequency , intensity and duration of flooding in Jeffersonville and Kohlertown leading to increased threats to the safety of their residents and increased property damage, now;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Village of Jeffersonville Board of Trustees requests a comprehensive flood control study be done to assess the impacts of the removal of the Lake Jefferson Dam on the Village of Jeffersonville and Kohlertown. The study should include flood mitigation strategies for the Village of Jeffersonville and Kohlertown.

VOTE: Ayes 4 Nays 0 Absent – 1 (Herbert)

August 8, 2022

What the heck happened to Lake Jeff???!  Here’s what you need to know:

Due to the state of disrepair of the dam, the owners of the dam have been ordered to release water and draw down the lake. When the Briscoe Dam upstream of us breached years ago, it sent a huge amount of silt and sediment into Lake Jeff which you are seeing now that the water level is low.  But water flow from all of the hills around Lake Jeff also carries sediment and so over the years, the depth of the lake has decreased significantly. 

Additionally, you need to know that the owners of the dam have worked for many years and spent thousands of dollars to keep the dam repaired and in compliance. But the repairs that need to be made today are now in excess of $1 million dollars, probably much closer to $2 million according to estimates done by local engineers. This price tag is far too much for the owners to afford and for our non-profit organization to raise in time to be in compliance with government standards. So the owners have no choice but to accept the government's offer to remove the dam, at taxpayer expense. And this agreement states that once this dam is removed, another dam cannot be erected in its place. 

It would be sad to lose our lake, yes. But we have learned from our engineers’ reports that the dam is an essential part of flood control for the homes and businesses downstream of the dam. So we, as an organization, are equally if not more concerned about future flooding to Jeffersonville and Kohlertown if the dam were to be removed.  We are now turning our attention and efforts to lobbying the state and/or federal government to pay for the repair of the dam and take over its ownership. 

The cost of a new dam is $2 million. But damages to our town by previous floods exceed that.  So it makes plenty of sense to invest in prevention by repairing the dam and keeping it in place to help with water control. Climate Change is a very real thing as we’ve all seen this summer with the deadly floods in Kentucky. And future storms promise to be worse than before. This is the moment to take action.

The special election for our district is on August 23rd. Once we have a representative, we will ask them to help us receive the funds needed. 

If you want to help, here are a few things we could use:

1. Someone with $2 million to spare

2. Someone in state government to find us $2 million

3. A lobbyist to convince our state government that it makes sense to spend $2 million of the new Climate Change bill to repair the dam and save our town from roughly the same amount in flood damages.

4. Thousands of signatures of support.

5. People to share and spread the word.

Thank you for any help you might be able to provide. If you’d like to get in touch, please e-mail us at info@lakejeff.org

Best,

Lauren Seikaly