The heavy rain and melting snow have caused a dramatic rise in the water level of Great Sacandaga Lake.

But, prior to the deluge, the water was so low that old railroad beds and the Sacandaga River basin could easily be observed. The lake-reservoir was at one of its lowest ebbs in recent years.

Robert Forest, chief engineer of the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District, based in Albany, reported that water since Friday has risen more than 10 feet.

The district regulates the amount of water in the reservoir via the Conklingville Dam, near Hadley in Saratoga County, where the Hudson and Sacandaga Rivers meet.

As of Friday, the water level was 738.77 feet above sea level. By Monday, it had shot up to 745.18 feet, fed by melting ice, snow and rain. As of yesterday afternoon, the level measured 749.30 feet and was still rapidly rising.

Nonetheless, when the level was low, the Sacandaga River basin could easily be detected, as well as the bed of an old railroad track of the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad (FJ&G), near the end of Lakeside Drive, Mayfield, at the western edge of the reservoir.

In addition, old stumps could be seen sticking up, and the steep banks of the reservoir were easily apparent.

Forest said about 10 previous readings measure lower than this year's water level reading last week, but noted that an "average" depth is between 745 to 750 feet above sea level.

The lowest reading recorded for the reservoir came in the spring of 1944, after a long drought, he said, measuring only about 729 feet.

Forest explained that for the last six or seven years, readings have been in the average range. In the early 1960s, several droughts caused low readings.

Why was the level of the reservoir so low this year? According to Forest, mainly because the weather turned cold early this fall with "no respite," not even a January thaw. Also, industries which contract for use of power generated by running water "were happy to get it" during this year's energy crisis. They pay about 95-100 percent of the cost of maintaining the reservoir.