This historic old dam is constructed with four gates and a spillway. The gates must be manually raised and lowered in response to rainfall amounts in order to control the flow of water through the dam into the Little River below, thus regulating the level of our Lake.
Anyone who has driven past Crystal Lake knows that sometimes when the water is high, your eyes can play tricks on you making the water look level with the road. There is not much room for error with the calculations involved with the operation of this type of dam. It has been on the high hazard list and if it were not for the expertise of the Apple brothers, it would have been a more constant cause of concern for Crystal Lake Support Inc., which maintains and preserves the dam and Crystal Lake.
The rains this summer have often brought vast quantities in short periods of time. Many dams have given way under the stress of such great amounts of water, and our dam is susceptible to the same situation. This is why these two fine gentlemen are so important. They know just when to raise the gates, how high to raise them, how many gates must be raised, and how long to keep them up. They also know just when to lower the water levels in the winter to maximize the effects of freezing temperatures to help control our weed problems.
Bobby and Lewis have been the guardians of the dam for as long as I can remember, and there is no substitute for their wisdom and knowledge in these matters.
Kim Von Canon
President
Crystal Lake Support Inc.
Lakeview
