Mirror Lake, the scenic landmark of the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, its waters serene with ducks paddling on the surface and cattails swaying in the breeze on its banks, can have a powerful, mighty side.
Two summers ago, when torrential rains pounded Connecticut and caused widespread flooding, water gushed out of the lake beyond the existing dam on its way downstream, the culverts under Route 195 at full capacity, water coming close to flooding the main thoroughfare through campus.
A new, $11 million project at the northern end of the lake that began this spring involves building a new dam that is three feet higher so it is able to hold back more water, along with other improvements that will release water more slowly from the lake, ensuring public safety on campus and reducing environmental risks downstream.
“I don’t think we’ve had anything as strong as the last big one we documented two summers ago, but the culverts were basically at their max capacity going beneath 195 and water had already topped a couple of local roadways downstream,” Sean Vasington, interim executive director of university planning, design and construction, said. “So, it was very timely to get this thing done, get it prioritized.”
However, the project — expected to be completed this fall — is not the one initially envisioned a decade ago when UConn drew up its master plan of development.
The $11 million price tag is less than a third of the $35 million originally envisioned for the project, which included full-scale dredging, extensive improvements to encourage plants and wildlife and even moving an island on the northern side of the lake.
But two years ago, as the university’s budget started tightening, the board of trustees approved a downsizing that would save money, university officials said.
Instead of full-scale draining and dredging that was originally planned to lower water levels in the 4.5-ace lake, a redesign included a higher new dam. Dredging would have removed about four to five feet of muck and other material from the floor of the lake, increasing its depth to 12 feet in some places.
Mirror Lake is not large enough to have a measurable impact on the Willimantic River, but it could affect wetland areas that are closer to the Storrs campus, said Jeff Caiola, assistant director of land and water resources at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
When water is released too quickly or in too large quantities, downstream banks can erode, sweeping away sediment and damaging wetland ecosystems. One consequence is wetland waters that are clouded with particles, shutting out light and potentially harming aquatic wildlife, Caiola said.
With the new measures in the place, “your stream is stable, and it is better for the habitat downstream,” Caiola said.
Second phase possible
While most know Mirror Lake as a lake, it is actually a human-made detention pond that was created in the 1920s from a marshy area that was then on the edge of the UConn campus. Today, there are eight points at which water flows into the lake, including from the 150-acre Roberts Brook watershed that extends beyond the UConn campus.
In addition, development on the Storrs campus also is boosting water runoff flowing into Mirror Lake. One of the most recent is the construction of the new, $215 million student residence hall that overlooks the lake.
The lake was fully dredged in 1946 and partially dredged in 1970. But since then, sediment from five decades storm water runoff has made the lake shallower, in some places just a few feet. Droppings for geese, ducks and other wildlife also have affected water quality. Each year, the university must deal with algae blooms.
Initially, Vasington said he was disappointed in the decision to scale back the project. But, in retrospect, Vasington said it was the right choice, given competing priorities elsewhere on campus. The alternatives now under construction will address the most pressing environmental issues.
Vasington said a future second phase could be possible to tackle more of what was originally envisioned.
“As the priorities and funding for the university continue to shift, it continues to be on our backlog of projects,” Vasington said. “We’re currently looking at what it might take — if its even feasible — to break that second phase into a series of phases, but it is still undefined.”
University officials said donors to the UConn Foundation can specify their contributions be used for future upgrades to Mirror Lake.
‘It was, like, this big’
On a recent, sunny morning, Ian Dann, a UConn senior project manager, walked around the banks of the lake and pointed out some of the potential future projects.
One of them is creating an earthen “shelf” around the perimeter of the lake that will provide a more gradual transition from the mowed lawn to the water in the lake. The area would encourage more and diverse of plant life.
It would also do something else: discourage the geese that have become a nuisance for their droppings and their sometimes aggressive behavior, especially when protecting their offspring.
Unlike ducks, geese don’t like to walk through a lot of plants at the water’s edge, Dann said.
“And then also, when they come into land, if you have taller cattails, they can’t have a direct line of sight for landing,” Dann said. “There’s a lot of interesting science behind how they want to get in or out of the lake, so you want to deter those options.”
As he walks, about two dozen Canadian geese are perched on the lawn that rises up from the lake.
“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been walking around the lake and doing my own thing and when they have young one and you get near them and they start hissing at you,” Dann said. “They would never attack me. But you know what, I’d say, ‘I really don’t want to get into a fight today,’ ”
In the future, a roughly, quarter acre island — also human-made — that is near the dam could get moved 50 feet away to ensure a healthy habitat for wildlife and water circulation near the dam.
Future dredging also could encourage the further growth of the fish population near the bottom of the lake.
Dann recounts the story of UConn football players who were fishing in the lake and caught a small-mouth bass.
“I mean, they don’t eat them, but it was, like, this big,” Dann said, holding up his hands more than a foot apart.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.