Newport
Recreation Director P.J. Lovely said on Thursday that skating on the common’s outdoor ice rink may not happen this winter unless there is a large amount of rainfall very soon.
“I have never seen this before,” said Lovely, who has been the recreation director for 21 years. “We are still waiting (before making a decision), but if the drought does continue, it would be difficult to go against the water ban.”
In October, Newport officials imposed restrictions on the water system’s 1,500 users because the primary supply, Gilman Pond in Unity, had dropped in volume. Most of Sullivan County and Windsor County, along with southern Grafton County, remains in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, run by the USDA’s National Drought Mitigation Center in Nebraska.
Water Superintendent Dave Brennan said on Thursday recent rains have done little to alleviate the situation in Newport.
“Unfortunately, the rains have not gotten to the pond because the ground is so dry,” he said.
Brennan said the pond is down three feet from the overflow at the top of the dam.
“It has not gone down in the past week, so we are maintaining but we do have drought concerns beyond winter,” Brennan said.
The town also relies on a well in Pollards Mill for water and more water is being drawn from there to help stabilize the level in the pond.
Lovely said building the ice surface requires putting down “coats” of water roughly one-twelfth of an inch thick. Once that freezes, another layer goes on. The colder the temperature, the faster layers can be put down. Factors such as snow, rain and usage determine how often coats of water need to be, or can be, applied.
“We estimate we use over 1,000 gallons for one coat,” Lovely said, meaning it takes about 12,000 gallons for an inch of ice. When ice conditions are ideal, thickness ranges from 2 and a half to four inches, Lovely said. “We can put up to 30 coats on.”
Trucking water pumped from the Sugar River into a fire truck has been mentioned as an alternative but Lovely said that does not seem practical because the pumper trucks hold just 1,500 gallons, so multiple trips would be required to build up an acceptable surface.
Skating on the common goes back decades and is a highlight of the annual winter carnival, with midnight skating and skate races. The carnival, which marked its 100th anniversary last year, falls on the second weekend in February this winter.
Four years ago, a new, larger warming hut was constructed and it is usually moved into place each year in early December. The skating is enjoyed not only by Sullivan County residents, but Lovely said skiers visiting Mt. Sunapee may take a break from the slopes and come to Newport to skate for a day. “People do come here from all over New England when it is nice.”
Lovely said ideally he would like to have the ice ready for the Christmas holiday week, but the last few years skating has begun in early January.
“We have to make a decision relatively soon,” Lovely said. “If it doesn’t happen, it will be a bummer.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
