Town hall set June 28 to review Silver Lake, Lake Comegys plan

After years of effort by government and volunteer entities, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Rehoboth Beach will host a public town hall meeting to discuss a draft Lakes Management Plan for Silver Lake and Lake Comegys.

The 94-page document details existing conditions at the two lakes and provides recommendations on a variety of lake management practices regarding water quality, riparian buffers, lake water level management and shoreline management. Silver Lake, about 43 acres in size, is surrounded by Rehoboth, Dewey Beach and Sussex County. Lake Comegys, about 3.7 acres, is in Dewey and the county. The waters of both lakes fall under the jurisdiction of Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

The plan provides short- and long-term goals that partners and stakeholders can work toward to collect the needed data.

“This plan has been developed to be a living document, maintained by the partners to mark progress toward the objectives or redefine objectives, as necessary, to successfully manage the lake based on a unified vision for the maintenance and improvement of the lakes. It is suggested that partners assess progress toward the short-term and long-term goals annually and reassess the objectives every five years,” reads the executive summary prepared by the Corps.

The Silver Lake and Lake Comegys areas have a long history of use – the Nanticoke Indians used it as a camp in the summer; colonial ship captains used Silver Lake as a source of freshwater; Silver Lake was designated as a state bird refuge in 1933.

According to the executive summary, the plan identifies and discusses jurisdictional code requirements, and provides clarity on ownership and maintenance requirements and expectations. The plan also helps to better understand the water quality of the lakes and establish best management practices that provide for environmental protection and public safety.

The Corps said the objectives of the plan are: to investigate the hydrology of the watershed and the hydrological connection between the two lakes to support the water level management plan; address lake level management, to include flooding into basements on the south and east ends and water deficiencies in the northwest reach; address shoreline management including for the riparian buffer and develop invasive species management recommendations; and establish ownership and jurisdiction of the shoreline around the lakes in order to facilitate communication between property owners with the various jurisdictions.

The Corps has reviewed future planning documents from the different governmental groups, saying everyone is considering code changes that are not directly related to the lakes, but would benefit the lakes. Common themes among these recommendations include code changes to protect natural resources, open space, trees and native plantings, and also to implement wetland buffers.

The Corps said partners would likely benefit by coordinating changes and recommends standardizing buffer regulations to be compatible with Rehoboth’s regulations because it would help improve riparian habitat surrounding the lakes.

Approximately 65% of the Silver Lake and Lake Comegys watersheds drain into the lakes via stormwater drains, says the plan. There are currently 23 stormwater outfalls, fed by more than 150 street drains, within Rehoboth that drain into Silver Lake and at least one stormwater pipe from Dewey that drains into Silver Lake; Route 1 drains into Lake Comegys.

As a result, both lakes are susceptible to nutrients, sediments and other pollutants entering the lakes through stormwater outfalls on a landscape scale.

According to the plan, the Silver Lake watershed is about 46% impervious surface, while the Lake Comegys watershed is about 45% impervious surface. The majority of land cover in the area of the lakes is tree canopy over turf grass, and turf grass.

The town hall will take place at 9 a.m., Wednesday, June 28, in the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Ave. The meeting schedule is as follows: 9 to 9:30 a.m., open house and informal discussions; 9:30 to 9:50 a.m., presentation by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; 9:50 to 10:30 a.m., question-and-answer session and meeting wrap-up.

The draft plan is available at www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Public-Notices-Reports. Public comments are requested by Friday, July 28. Comments may be submitted by email to PDPA-NAP@usace.army.mil.