Sweet Arrow Lake at 100: Recreational refuge to 50,000 annually

On its 100th birthday, Sweet Arrow Lake received a long-awaited present — plans are underway to dredge the 60-acre waterway.

Craig Morgan, president of Friends of Schuylkill Parks & Recreation, said a consultant has been hired to prepare a plan for dredging the lake.

Aaron Clauser, president of Clauser Environmental, will draw up a plan and submit an application for a dredging permit to the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Resources.

“We’re hoping that the application can be made by spring,” said Clauser, whose firm is based in Kutztown.

The announcement came as about 50 conservationists and community leaders gathered at the Big Dam Trailhead in October to dedicate Phase 3 of the Swatara Creek Floodplain Restoration project.

Wayne G. Lehman, a natural resources specialist with the Schuylkill Conservation District, said the $800,000 project will reduce the amount of sedimentation that goes into the lake from the creek.

The creek’s banks were sloped and some 3,000 trees were planted in an enlarged flood plain under the project.

State Sen. David G. Argall, a Schuylkill County Republican, said the project came under the Growing Greener Program, of which he was a sponsor.

“Money is only half of the equation,” he said. “This project involved a large number of groups and municipalities.”

In addition to the Conservation District, the Friends of Schuylkill Parks & Recreation and the Schuylkill County Sportsman Association were participants.

“This is what you call success,” Schuylkill County Commissioner Gary J. Hess said. “Organizations coming together for the common good.”

Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. praised the flood plain restoration project and the plan to dredge the lake.

“We need to make sure these facilities are available for the future,” he said,

State Rep. JoAnne Stehr, a Schuylkill County Republican, recognized the flood control aspect of restoring the Swatara Creek flood plain.

“I remember the flooding in Pine Grove and Tremont,” she said. “We’re grateful for anything that will prevent flooding.”

A century

The Schuylkill County Conservation District, which manages Sweet Arrow Lake County Park, marked the lake’s 100th birthday at the second annual Lakefront Festival.

Denise Donmoyer, Sweet Arrow Lake Conservation Association president, gave a brief history of the lake.

A larger dam on the site broke during a flood in 1862, returning Upper Little Swatara Creek to its natural flow.

In 1922, East Penn Electric Co., later part of PP&L, needed water for a steam electric generating station it was building downstream. The reservoir it built, Sweet Arrow Lake, opened on Dec. 10, 1923 — 100 years ago.

Its name, Donmoyer said, was derived from the Native American word “swatara,” which means “place where we feed on eels.”

After Tropical Storm Agnes flooded the borough in 1972, Pine Grove Borough Council purchased the lake as a flood control dam.

With $650,000 from the state Growing Greener fund, the county floated a bond issue and purchased the lake in 2001. The lake became part of Sweet Arrow Lake County Park, a 183-acre recreation area in Pine Grove Township.

“I always say it was the best thing Schuylkill County ever did, and the worth of the purchase was proven at the height of the pandemic in 2020,” Donmoyer said. “The parking lots were full with people just looking for outdoor places to go.”

The park’s clubhouse, built by PP&L in 1928, is a venue for 200 events a year. An estimated 50,000 people visit the park each year.

A watershed program

Patrick M. “Porcupine Pat” McKinney, the conservation district’s environmental education coordinator, officiated at a special announcement in the clubhouse.

The Williams Valley School District has been awarded a $298,411 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, a science-based federal agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training, or B-WET, program awarded the grant.

Toriel Herman, director of student services, said the funds will support projects in the district’s science department.

A three-year environmental literacy and sustainability project will address Pennsylvania Technology, Engineering, Environmental Literacy and Sustainability standards by enhancing outdoor learning opportunities for students, Herman said.

Williams Valley will develop a districtwide Environmental Literacy Plan that engages 900 students, she said.

Source: Berkshire mont