Manager: Dam was erected to stop floods

Recreation is allowed, but the Shenango River Lake is for flood control.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
CLARK, Pa. -- The resource manager at Shenango River Lake said boaters and anglers who complain about muddy water or fluctuating lake levels need to be reminded of the primary purpose of the lake.
The Shenango Dam was built in 1965 for flood control, said Pete O'Connell.
Recreational boating and fishing were approved, but the dam was built to control downstream flooding and to regulate water flow during dry periods, he said.
Some areas, such as downtown Sharon, would occasionally flood during extreme wet weather, but that stopped with the building of the dam and the creation of the lake.
The lake rises as storms dump heavy rain into the watershed upstream, and that has been particularly noticeable last summer and this spring, O'Connell said. He noted that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which runs the facility, closed the lake for four weeks last year.
Some of its recreation areas were closed briefly before Memorial Day this year as well because of high water.
Some complaints
O'Connell said he has received a few complaints about high water and muddy water. One came in an e-mail just before Memorial Day from a fisherman upset with high water, which he said ruined his fishing trip.
O'Connell said he sent a reply e-mail acknowledging that, though some fishing days have been ruined, the dam has fulfilled its primary purpose by preventing flooding.
Since the dam was completed in 1965 and became operational in 1967, the facility has prevented more than $100 million worth of flood damage in nearby communities and saved countless lives, he said.
O'Connell said the corps may not have done a good enough job informing the public about the many positive impacts, such as flood damage reduction, water quality control, recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement that the dam and reservoir have had on the Shenango Valley.
Testing the water
The lake water is tested on a regular basis, and, other than increased muddy water after storms, there is no problem with the water, O'Connell said.
That muddy water is caused by erosion of silt and clay from the watershed that finds its way into the lake during storms, he said.
A few boaters have complained about dirty water, but an informal survey of boaters and anglers by The Vindicator around the lake earlier this week turned up few complaints.
"It's a little more murky," said Mari Lynn Devine of Hermitage, who spends a lot of time with her husband and children fishing and boating at Shenango.
The murkiness was the result of recent storms, she said, adding that didn't prevent her children from swimming and tubing.
"I haven't seen anything that would keep us out of there," Devine said, adding that the fish are biting. She recently landed a 22-inch northern pike, she said.
"We kind of thought it was cleaner than Moraine [a state park in Butler County]," said Rose Jones of Lawrence County, who spent five hours fishing at Shenango on Monday.
It was their first trip to Shenango in three years, said her husband, Don, as he secured their fishing boat to its trailer. They do most of their fishing at Moraine, he said.
"We didn't think it was too bad," he said, adding that they caught some crappies at Shenango.
Casting away
Mike Klenotic of New Castle, his wife, Linda, and a friend, Shirley Baker of Beaver Falls, were sitting in chairs along the shore of the Mahaney Recreation Area, casting their lines into the water.
Klenotic said he's been fishing the lake for years and hasn't noticed any change in the water quality.
"I just wish they had some fish in here," his wife quipped, offering a look at how the day was going.
"I don't swim in it," said Ed Kubyako of Sharon as he secured his pleasure boat to its trailer after pulling out of the lake.
However, he does fish and said he has no qualms about eating what he catches in the lake.
Kubyako, 32, said he's been coming to the lake all his life and used to fish off his uncle's boat as a youngster.
He said he hasn't noticed any change in the water quality.
Chris DeWitt of New Springfield said the water may be a bit dirtier right now because of recent storms that have also caused a lot of shoreline damage over the past two years, but he hasn't noticed any overall change in the water.
He and his wife, Sherry, and friends Greg and Patty Duffy of Struthers were launching a pleasure boat at the Shenango Recreation Area for a day on the lake.
DeWitt said he gets out to the lake often. "We do a lot of lounging [on the water]," he said.
OK at the marina
Rita Cunningham, co-owner of RC's marina, the only marina on the lake, said she hasn't heard any complaints about water quality from the approximately 300 boaters tied up at her docks.
"Our water is beautiful up here," she said.
O'Connell said the lake is at summer pool level now but was up about 51/2 feet a few weeks ago.
It's "a delicate balance" to provide flood control services while allowing recreational use of the lake, he said.