Fontana Dam – There is a recurring theme at each meeting of the town council: water leaks.
Operating off a system that was installed in the 1940s does present its challenges, but the town has went from talking about water leaks – and the subsequent heavy loss that brings – to proactively addressing the problem.
At the Aug. 17 town meeting, Fontana Dam ORC (Operator-in-Responsible Charge) Carrie Stewart briefed the council on the latest discoveries of water-loss culprits – namely, the two pools at Fontana Village Resort. One sits directly in the middle of the lodge, while another – dubbed Stone Creek Pool & Lazy River – is downhill from the lodge itself and serves as more of a public pool.
Stewart recently discovered that the float valve in the Stone Creek pool is broken, which has caused the body of water to consistently overfill and, as a result, sending overflow into storm drains below the pool.
“We need to fix this one problem at a time, so we can get a better idea of what’s happening with the lines that go to the lodges and cabins,” Stewart added.
A rebuild kit for a check valve was later proposed, at a quote of $2,348. Stewart also proposed a water meter be installed at the Stone Creek pool to better check usage.
Since coming on-board in May, Stewart and the Fontana Dam Water Department staff have plugged the overall water loss the municipality was seeing from 79.55 percent to 62.8.
Stewart said the target loss – for now – is 50 percent.
The annual “offseason” for the resort is approaching though, which will see fewer visitors and harkens the pools shutting down – and in turn, provide more water gain.
“I think we just have to ‘beat the drum’ right now – but when we get to an offseason, we can start beating it a little louder,” Mayor Rob Hardy said. “You build something in the 40s, you can’t expect it to be running in 2020. That’s an unrealistic expectation.”