Northwood Meadows State Park, NH

Pets are permitted in the park. Pets must be on leash. See the NH State Parks Pets Policy for more information.

The drop in water level in the pond is due to the deterioration and failure of the three pipes: the drop inlet, outlet pipe and low level drain that are used to regulate the water level and drain the pond. Increasing the water level in the pond now would likely result in the failure and loss of the entire dam. This is because the low-level drainpipe used to drain the pond is leaking and allowing water to flow into the horizontal overflow pipe that runs through the dam.
This horizontal overflow pipe has deteriorated and is allowing water to erode the inside of the dam. Anything that would increase the flow of water through this pipe and the surrounding material will result in a probable failure of the dam.
The Department had intended to maintain the majority of the volume of water in the pond that was there originally. A bypass spillway was installed in 2014 to prevent water from overtopping the vertical portion of the drop inlet pipe that feeds into the deteriorated section through the dam. At that time it was unknown how long the low-level drain would last.
Department staff has been on site three times over the last two weeks to assess and monitor the dam. This includes one site visit with the NH DES Dam Bureau who also conducted an assessment of overall condition of the dam. We will need to work DES to determine the next steps and agree on the parameters for a DES permit to repair the dam if the funding can be secured.
Replacement of this dam would require a reengineering and complete removal costing $300,000 or more. It is the Department’s hope to be able to replace the existing control and drain mechanism in kind and maintain the 2014 bypass control which would be much less expensive. The support for all of this the work comes from capital funds and, as a self-funded park system, the revenue generated by other parks across the state. Our current hope is that we will be able to avoid having to spend the money to replace the existing dam and implement the 2014 bypass.