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22—The Berkshire Eagle. Thursday, August 26. 1976House approves $250,000 fund for Washington Mt. Brook lakesWASHINGTON — The Washington Mountain Brook watershed project received an important boost yesterday when the state House of Representatives passed a bill appropriating $250,000 to complete the two remaining lakes and dams at the 5.740-acre site.The bill, sponsored by Reps. Dennis J. Duff in. D-Lenox, Sidney Q. Curtiss. R-Shcffield, and Sen. John H. Fitzpatrick. R-Stoekbridge. now goes to the Senate. Action is expected to be taken sometime this session, possibly this week.U the appropriation is passed, it will mean an additional $1 million for the project from the federal government through the Soil Conservation Service (SCS).More than $900,000 ($600,000 of it from the federal government) has already been spent on the project, which is designed to reduce fltxxi damage, increase the safe yield of Lee’s municipal watersupply by providing the town an auxiliary water source, and provide public recreational facilities.The watershed includes 4.670 acres in Washington. 870 acres in Lee and 200 acres in Becket.The three lakes in the project are on the western slope of October Mountain and will have a combined surface area, when completed, of 325 acres. That is approximately the same size as Stoek-bridge Bowl.The largest of the lakes. Washington Mountain Lake, was completed earlier this summer and covers 222 acres, about the size of Lower Goose Pond in Tyring-ham. A dam at the lake has also been completed.The bill now before the Senate will pay for the construction of the two remaining lakes and dams. If passed, bids for work on the 86-acre October Mountain Lake and the 15 acre Schoolhouse lake couldgo out as early as the beginning of October. according to Charles Kennedy of the state Water Resources Commission.Kennedy said that construction would be completed “sometime in 1978.”The three lakes are not expected to be officially opened for recreational use until 1980. Kennedy said, adding that recreational facility plans would have to be drawn up by the state Division of Forests and Parks. The division will be in charge of running the project when it is completed.The plan for the project, which is in October Mountain State Forest, was first announced in 1965. The lakes were originally scheduled to open last year. The U.S. Congress approved the project in 1968.The federal Soil Conservation Service is providing supervision for the project, with the slate Water Resources Commission aquiring needed land and awarding the contracts.
Newspaper Details
The Berkshire Eagle
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, US
Thu, Aug 26, 1976
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Lenox L.
MA, USA 21 Oct 2023
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