Kingston ducks in a bigger pond

BY NANCY KELLY

Kings County Register

The parking lot at the Stronach Park pond and fitness trail was closed off - and under water - following heavy rain February 18.

Scott Peckford, public works commissioner for the village, said the water in the pond and parking lot was up between four and five feet after the rain. The small dam installed to keep water from the spring-fed pond from running into the parking lot was completely overwhelmed by the rising water - which came from the opposite direction when the Annapolis River overflowed its banks.

Kingston’s public works supervisor Danny Lundrigan said last week’s flood was as severe as a flood that occurred a few years back.

“That particular flood was 50 years in the making, and we didn’t think that would happen again anytime soon. I guess we were wrong about that.”

Lundrigan says the pond parking lot and field across the road became swamped because the “Annapolis River just couldn’t handle that amount of rain and run-off from the rapid melt of ice and snow on the two mountains.”

Matters were made worse by the fact that there was a full moon and high tides during the daytime, when the rains came.

“All these factors combined to make the flooding more extreme.”

He added there was little that could be done, other than wait for the water to recede - something he anticipated would happen fairly quickly. He didn’t think freezing temperatures later last week would hinder the process, but noted ice forming around trees and other structures would probably linger after water levels drop.