HONESDALE, PA — There are a handful of ongoing dam rehabilitation projects in Wayne County, and it will be several years before most of them are completed and the affected bodies of water restored back to their original state. Given the impact these lengthy projects have on the residents who live near and recreate on these lakes and ponds, the Wayne County Commissioners requested a status update from the PA Fish and Boat Commission. The commission recently responded with a rough outline of each ongoing project.

“There’s a lot of projects going on, there’s a lot of people who live around some of these projects where they had a nice lake, the lake was drained, they’re now living on something similar to a swamp... [There are] people in the public who like to recreate, fish and they deserve to know what the status is on these projects,” commissioner Brian Smith said. “And I think it’s encouraging to know that a lot of these projects [are progressing]—even though they may not be going as quickly as we would like them to go—we were assured from the get-go that they did have the funds and they would persevere and make sure that the repairs were done, the engineering was done, and the lakes would be refilled and be, once again, nice for fishing and boating and property owners.”

Note, any estimated completion dates were accompanied by the disclaimer, “or thereafter.” The commission also noted that these timelines are subject to change.

Miller Pond and White Oak Pond

Both projects are currently under design by Schnabel Engineering. The designs for both projects are estimated to be completed in late spring 2021.

Once the design phase is complete, the permitting process will commence; the average permitting process takes approximately one year and is expected to be done in summer 2022.

Construction will take an estimated one-and-half years, with an estimated completion date of winter 2023.

Refilling both ponds will take about six months; the ponds are estimated to be back in service by the 2024 summer.

Belmont Lake

This project’s design was completed by Schnabel Engineering. And the one-year permitting process should be completed around spring 2022.

Construction is anticipated to begin a year after that, in the spring of 2023. That will take one-and-a-half years and be completed around fall 2024.

Refill is estimated to take about six months and the lake should be back in service in the spring or summer of 2025.

Lower Woods Pond

Schnabel Engineering has completed this project’s design and is addressing comments on the permit submission. The permit is anticipated to be approved this spring.

Construction is expected to begin in the fall or winter of this year. That will take one-and-a-half years, giving the project an estimated completion date of fall 2023.

Refilling the pond will take about six months, and should be back in service in winter 2023.

Hankins Pond

The Hankins Pond Dam property is being transferred/leased to Wayne County. The project is in the midst of the “agreement process.”

Information provided by Dan Gahagan, PA Fish and Boat Commission chief of engineering.