Look out Below!
Killingly Pond
Excerpted and edited from an article by Dan D’Ambrosio, in ecoRI News
KILLINGLY, Conn. – Six years ago, Justen and Kellie Fisher bought a property in need of attention on Old Killingly Pond, which straddles the border of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and began rebuilding their dream house on the Connecticut side of the pond. About four months ago, the pond began to disappear on them.
“It’s dropped at least 12 feet,” Justen Fisher said. “It’s bad. It looks extremely different. You can probably assume the cause of concern for us. It’s literally our back yard.”
Although the Fishers didn’t know it at the time, their pond was disappearing because the dam that forms it began showing signs it could fail. That triggered an emergency action that opened the lower outlet of the dam to bring the water level down and relieve the pressure on the dam.