The water level in Oswego Lake will remain about 10 feet lower through the rest of the year while residents make repairs to their docks and other waterfront structures.
Jeff Ward, the lake manager at Lake Oswego Corp., said the drawdown, which began Nov. 1, is the first in a new policy of regularly draining the lake about 10 feet once every three years.
Lake Oswego Corp. is a private entity that manages the 415-acre lake. The entity manages Oswego Lake through easement agreements involving about 700 lakefront homes and thousands of nearby homes.
The drawdown leaves the lakebed exposed in some of the lake's shallower areas, like Lakewood Bay.
The lake was last drawn down in 2010 for work on a new sewer interceptor. The water was brought down 24 feet below its normal level, the lowest it had been since the 1980s.
Beginning January 2, the Lake Corp. will begin to let water flow in from a variety of sources, including rainwater runoff and the Tualatin River, Ward said. The refill process will take about two months.
-- Michael Bamesberger