Is This Irony?

The Ramsey-Washington Watershed District has an entry about the botched-up drain they installed in 2003 and modified several times before getting it as close to right as they ever do anything: Savage Lake Outlet Improvement.They sarcastically claim, "Prior to the project, the outlet from Savage Lake was highly susceptible to plugging, which caused extended elevated water levels in the lake. City maintenance crews frequently removed sticks and other debris from the outlet.

"During the winter of 2003-04, we installed a new outlet structure that would operate at full system capacity even if 80 percent plugged. The outlet stabilizes normal water levels in the lake and allows flood levels to subside much sooner than before."

One of the advantages of getting to review your own work is that you don't have to even pay lip-service to facts or reality.

A New, Bigger Lake

 It's been a few years since we've had this much water in the lake. Our rain gauge said we got almost 5" this morning.

When I built this dock, somewhere around 10 years ago, the water level was so low I could walk all around it during construction. A year later, I had to chase the dock down because it floated into the middle of the lake after a big rainstorm.  Five or six years ago, I anchored the dock to the awing frame in case we ever got a major lake-fill again. Looks like it worked.

I'd say the water is about 6" above the historic shoreline. It looks like more from the pictures, but the water is only about 1-4" deep between the dock and the beach. My wife has some potted plants in the water (which you can see the tops of to the left of the dock about 8') and all the pots and most of the plants are almost submerged.

We had a pretty good sound and light show this morning, too. All of the pets crowded onto the bed about 4AM, so I got up to watch the lightening. Some of the louder shots were close to 1,000 feet of our house (based on the timing between the light and the sound). I'm amazed we still have power in the neighborhood.