Clear Water

I set out from the Eagle Scout launch on what I call Housatonic 2, the second reach above the sea. It is a nice day and I expect the water to be busy. This stretch is an old reservoir, the dam holding it back dating to 1878, which I suppose it is a fairly large dam for that era. Although it is over 600 ft long, it only holds back about 25 feet of water. Anyway, this stretch is only 5 miles long and mostly less than 500 feet across.

The obligatory Great Blue Heron photo

The first thing I notice is how clear the water is. Today, the bottom is clearly seen some 6 or 8 ft down, and if there is something of contrast, I can see farther. This is much different than the upstream reservoir, commonly referred to as Lake Zoar. A more modern dam holds back 60 feet of water in a much larger reservoir. I don't paddle there at this time of year as it is prone to nasty algae blooms and the water can be rather gross... definitely not clear. 

Being a small reservoir, Housatonic 2 has a small but constant current. In fact, if the dam keepers are trying to stabilize the reservoirs during heavy rains or runoff, it is work to head upstream from where I put in. In normal conditions, I would guess that a unit of water entering from upstream might pass through to the tidal water within a week. That current mixes waters from different depths, flushes the system, and keeps the water oxygenated. And, that keeps the water clear.  Lake Zoar, on the other hand, is stagnant. I've never perceived any current except at the very top of the reach. Blooms get started, the oxygen gets depleted, and the lake turns into skunk water, until winter comes.

I head up toward the Stevenson Dam. There are a few jet skiers out jet skiing, but there aren't any water skiers out water skiing even though the conditions are ideal. I spend about 20 minutes messing about in the easy whitewater about a 1/4 mile below the dam, getting in some practice catching eddies and ferrying back and forth in fast water. Then, I head back down.