Each summer, volunteers with the Youghiogheny River Lake in Somerset County said that over one million people visit the area, bringing their boats from May until late September. This year, they said the season was cut short.
“We need rain, we need rain bad, and we need rain for a long period of time, This is the lowest I’ve ever seen the lake. It’s down to 30 feet on the road, and it’s usually around 250 feet this time of the year.”
Jakomas said that he painted markers along the road near the lake last summer to measure the water. This year, he said he’s seen levels go down by around 5 feet per day. Jakomas added that engineers in Pittsburgh drain the Youghiogheny to improve water flow for rivers across the area during dry conditions.
“If you really look at what’s going on throughout the United States right now, especially in this area, it’s primarily due to the lack of rain. We’re not scheduled to get any rain for the next week or so, so it’s only going to get worse from here.”
Jakomas and Dorrance, who have both worked at the lake for over 10 years, said that they’re removing the majority of the public docks by Labor Day, preventing visitors from taking boats onto the water. They said this can cause the area to lose out on money within the next month.
“Millions of dollars is being spent on these people that have boats and cars and putting boats inIt’s taking a lot of money out of this area. It’s definitely going to affect the businesses here,
While both said that there’s nothing they can do about the water levels this year, they added that they’re hopeful that conditions will be better next summer.
“The water levels will at some point pretty much even itself out all we can do is hope that it won’t happen again next year.”
They also explained that visitors can still bring boats to the dam for the time being, but added that this will not last long.