Still high and dry on Frog Pond Road

By Mark Squibb / June 9, 2023

Residents of Frog Pond Road have been watching the gully’s water level fluctuate up and down over the last several months, but recently — despite a long stretch of days of rain, rain, drizzle and rain, and some more rain for good measure — those levels have been down, down, down.

And the residents are not pleased.

“Frog Pond has never been down this low before, and I’ve lived here 50 years,” said Peter Dunn, who said the pond is currently more of a huge pothole than a pond.

The issue first came to light back in November. Residents believe that water and sewer work commissioned by the Town along Frog Pond last summer rerouted the natural underground streams that feed into the pond, leaving it high and dry.

On Thursday, Mayor Darrin Bent, as he did in November, said the Town is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach.

“Over the past six or seven months our staff has been monitoring Frog Pond on a regular basis, and so have a number of council members,” said Bent. “And during that period the pond was fine, and actually levels were higher than normal sometimes, and a little lower at other times, but it was a relatively normal winter for the pond.”

Bent said he has been made aware there has been a drop in the water level over the past week or so.

“The question is, ‘Why did it drop?’ and ‘Will it come back?’” said Bent. “Those are the things we have to look at. And there are a number of possibilities why the water level has dropped.”

Vegetation growth and low precipitation levels, particularly in April, said Bent, could be contributing factors to the pond’s low levels.

He added the problem is not isolated to Frog Pond, and that water levels are down across the board, from Bay Bulls Big Pond to Manuel’s River to the water catchment near the Salvation Army church on Long Pond.

“Council is aware of the concerns of residents,” said Bent. “Residents are concerned that it’s dropped quickly in the last week or two, and are concerned about why that may be happening, and our engineering staff are aware of that, and we depend on them to advise us if any action is necessary, and they’ll continue to monitor it, and council will depend on their advice.”

Bent’s assessment that precipitation levels have been lower does seem to hold some water.

According to data collected by Environment Canada, the total precipitation for January thru to May in 2023 totalled roughly 565 millimetres. Roughly 824 millimetres of precipitation fell in that same time period in 2022, which was a noticeably wetter year than previous years. Precipitation numbers for the same time period in 2021 and 2020 are more comparable to 2023 — registering 665 and 508 mms of snow and rain respectively.

Bent said council and staff have been working with residents since day one, but sometimes the best action is to wait.

Regardless, some residents say that action needs to be taken to address the issue.

“This never should have happened,” said Dunn. “It’s frustrating…. And they say that they’re monitoring it, but as far as I’m concerned, they’ve got to fix what they broke.”

Bent said the Town would be willing to take action at the recommendation of engineering staff.

“If our engineers felt that some action is required, then they will advise us, and council will make decisions based on that,” said Bent. “We want to make sure any decision we make are correct and prudent and based on engineering advice.”

That approach may not please some residents.

“They’re motto has been wait and see what happens,” said Dunn, who noted the frogs which gave the gully its name are long gone and the ducks have pretty well followed suit. “But we’ve waited long enough… and this isn’t going to go away until someone is held accountable… They need to dig it up, and put the trench towards the gully… Before it wouldn’t get low because there was always water running in.”

Meanwhile, water and sewer along Frog Pond Road, culprit or not, has been completed, and a final layer of asphalt is supposed to be laid this summer.

Bent said if the residents want to meet personally to discuss the matter further, council and staff are “absolutely available and happy to do so.”