HARRISBURG — One Western Pennsylvania lake is about to come back online, albeit with temporary special regulations, and a few others might be inching closer to repairs.
Glade Run Lake in Butler County was drained in 2011 after its dam developed a leak. Work to rebuild it is underway — at a cost of $2.8 million — and should be completed by September, said Paul Urbanik, chief of engineering for Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
The intent, he said, is to allow it to refill over the winter.
If all goes well, the commission will stock the lake with adult-sized, catchable trout in time for next April's opening day, said Jason Detar, chief of the commission's division of fish management. Anglers will be allowed to harvest those fish just as at any other water, he said.
What they won't be allowed to keep are the assorted minnows and gamefish — namely largemouth bass, white crappie, bluegill, and channel cat fingerlings — that also will be stocked as fingerlings starting next spring.
Commissioners on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a proposal putting them off limits, likely for a period of years, so they can grow and repopulate the lake.
“We want to give them some extra protection and time to develop,” said Andy Shiels, chief of the commission's bureau of fisheries.
That is standard procedure with newly refilled lakes, Detar said. How long the rule stays in place depends on how the fish respond, Detar said. The commission will monitor growth rates and make changes when the populations can handle them, he said.
The commission also is finalizing repair plans and seeking construction permits for several other “high-hazard” dams, including Somerset Lake in Somerset County and Donegal Lake in Westmoreland.
Somerset is partially drawn down. Donegal is not. But both were identified as lakes where dams must be replaced.
The cost of repairing Somerset Lake is estimated at $7.4 million and Donegal at $4.5 million, said Michelle Jacoby, chief of its bureau of engineering.
The commission doesn't have all of that money yet. It is expecting some state funding via Act 89, which directs a portion of wholesale taxes collected on gasoline to the commission for dam repairs, said Tim Schaeffer, director of policy and planning for the commission. It also is working to get capital budget money, he added.
If and when all that comes through — and the agency is hopeful it will be soon — it will decide which of its 10 remaining high-hazard dam projects to tackle first, Schaeffer said. It will then meet with anglers, boaters and others around them to explain the time frame from draining the lakes to refilling them.
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