Mosquito Lake prevents floods, provides drinking water

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

CORTLAND

Many people who were alive in 1944 may remember that a postage stamp was 3 cents, a dime would buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of gasoline was 15 cents.

In addition, they likely recall that about 155,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, which marked the D-Day invasion during a pivotal point of World War II.

Nevertheless, that year also saw a very different type of transformation taking place in Trumbull County.

“This is a big milestone for Mosquito Lake,” Bill Spring, the lake’s resource manager, said during a ceremony Saturday morning at a dam site just off state Route 305, referring to Mosquito Lake’s 75th anniversary.

Hosting the 45-minute commemorative program was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District, of which Mosquito Lake is one of 16 flood-damage reduction projects.

Spring noted that since its completion in 1944, the lake has saved more than $500 million in estimated flood damage and has provided more than 3 trillion gallons of drinking water.

Col. Andrew J. “Coby” Short, the Pittsburgh District’s commander, noted that Mosquito Lake protects about 328 miles of navigational waterways. The lake also has developed numerous partnerships and stakeholders with a vested interest in working together “to bring maximum benefit to our citizens,” he said.

About 100 people attended the event, which also featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate a mini-medieval castle, the Army Corp’s symbol, inside of which a time capsule was placed to commemorate the occasion. The capsule will be there for 25 years before being opened in June 2044 to mark the 100th anniversary.

Also dedicated and planted for the anniversary was a pawpaw tree, which is the official state fruit of Ohio. The tree can grow up to 35 feet, Short continued.

Before the ceremony, a few hundred people took part in several free guided tours in and around the dam’s control tower near the lake’s southernmost point.

Providing a bit of the dam’s history was Jamison Conley, a park ranger who noted that it was built in a mere 90 days before being finished in April 1944. The project was able to continue, even though a lot of steel and other materials were being used for the war effort during World War II, he pointed out.

Conley also explained that a large amount of aggregate and rock material, known as “rip rap,” was used to build the dam, which is slightly more than a mile long. The combination is effective in preventing erosion, he noted.

Park ranger Ashley Ritenour’s presentation focused mainly on the tower’s six gates — two low-flow gate valves and four 32-square-foot sluice gates, which are barriers designed to control flow rates and water levels.

“Some release low volumes of water downstream and help with the flow of water,” she said.

Ritenour also noted that the tower has two 350-foot-long conduits, which are essentially concrete tunnels under the dam that help regulate water-flow rates.

“The dam wouldn’t work without those tunnels. Basically, they act as a drain for the tub that the lake is,” Ritenour said, adding they are inspected once or twice a year.

Ranger Morgan Ritchie delved into the dam’s data-collection aspects, saying that precipitation amounts, air and water temperatures and lake-elevation figures are gathered and recorded for given 24-hour periods, then sent to the Army Corps of Engineers’ district office in Pittsburgh.

In addition, the six gates can be operated manually if the main control box malfunctions, she continued.

Also during the ceremony, Spring presented awards for protecting the lake and promoting conservation practices to Josie McKenna, Mosquito Lake State Park’s manager; Chris Herlinger, acting chief for the Bazetta Township Police Department; Randy Cox, president of the Cortland Conservation Club; Dennis Lewis, chief of the Bazetta Township Fire Department; and Greg Gerrett, the Trumbull County Disc Golf Association’s president.

Making additional remarks were Susan Vance, assistant chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Parks and Watercraft; and Maj. Scott Allen, chief public-affairs officer with the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.

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MOSQUITO LAKE AND DAM

A brief look

A few hundred people attended walking tours and a ceremony Saturday morning to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the lake and recreation area that opened in 1944 in Trumbull County. Some facts about the state’s second-largest lake and accompanying dam:

Mosquito Lake was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 and is one of 16 flood-control projects in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District.

The lake encompasses 11,466 acres, which includes a campground with 234 campsites in the state park, as well as a wetlands area.

The Mosquito Picnic and Tailwater Access Area is home to the Mosquito Disc Golf Course, which has 10 holes.

Besides offering an ideal location for boating and fishing, the lake has a swimming beach, horse-riding trails, picnic areas, a self-guided nature trail and an amphitheater. Additional recreation includes ice fishing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.

The 5,650-foot-long dam, on the lake’s southern end just off state Route 305, has a maximum height and maximum width of 47 and 430 feet, respectively. It was completed in April 1944 in about three months at a cost of slightly more than $4 million.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers