Credits: The opening photo, and the information that much of the following story is built upon, was sourced from a recent article by Big Canoe Blogger, Patricia Cross. Every Big Canoe Property Owner should be on her mailing list. Her most recent article had more about the draining of Lake Disharoon (Swim Club Lake), but was also chock full of financial information gems regarding the community, and can be read here: https://bcmatters.org/so-much-to-talk-about/
When our family heard that the Swim Club Lake had been drained, my wife thought it would be a nice educational experience to take the kids to see what it looked like. My eight year old daughter’s initial reaction was to ask what had happened to the fish and tadpoles.
They died. All evidence points to the fact that the lake was drained in rapid and uncontrolled fashion. There is no evidence that there was any “professional engineering” oversight of the process. What was supposed to be a slow steady drain of the lake appears to have been rushed, with the Drain’s Sluice Gate thrown wide open, resulting in the “disintegration” of the internal pipes as the water rushed through at the highest possible pressure. The fish and other aquatic life were sucked through and left to die on the banks of Lake Sconti, which was also fouled by the discharge. The discharge is ongoing, and the recent downpour overflowed the small coffer dam that was built, and overwhelmed the expensive pumping system, allowing more inundation and damage to the Dam’s lower lake drain pipe, allowing more sediment into Lake Sconti, and downstream into Blackwell Creek where it is causing issues with our drinking water.
Questions: Who was in charge of the draining of Lake Disharoon? Was a slow, steady and patient process that was originally estimated to take weeks, rushed in an attempt to meet Summer Swimclub opening dates, and as a consequence made a bad situation worse, allowing uncontrolled waterflow through the lower drain pipe to “blowout” some sidewall sections?
Regardless of the answer, which will most likely never be provided, this is a Wakeup Call to Big Canoe Property Owners of a much larger problem that is looming, and of the need to get some professional & legal oversite of the POA in regards to how they are handling the rapidly developing Lake Petit Dam CRISIS.
The word, CRISIS, is used with full understanding of its meaning and implications. New Open Records requests have revealed a rapidly worsening situation. Visual inspection has confirmed some recent claims made to this newspaper by Property Owner Observers. A new article is being prepared regarding the recent and sudden escalation of dam failure that has occurred at Lake Petit Dam. To give you a preview idea of what to expect, the article will be titled “Big Canoe Lake Petit Dam: Failure Begins – This is Not a Drill”.
In the meantime, at Lake Disharoon’s Swim Club Lake it is becoming more apparent that Summer at the Swim Club has been cancelled. It will be a silent summer in the community. I for one will miss the sound of children’s laughter and splashing at the Swim Club Lake. It is increasingly likely that the community will also be missing Boating & 4th of July activities at Lake Petit, due to the escalating odds that plans to drain that Lake will also soon be underway.
Stay tuned for an update article later in the coming days that will provide updated facts and reports regarding the developing failures at Petit Dam. I also encourage all Big Canoe residents to start asking direct questions of management about the worsening status of Disharoon and Petit Dams.
Peace,
– david / publisher
Focus on Big Canoe, GA
* a publication of The Mountains Voice
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