Updated September 2026. The 2026 refill is finished. The lake returned to its summer operating range before Memorial Day, which fell on May 25, 2026, and FirstLight has not yet published its plan for the 2026 to 2027 winter. The account below is kept as a record of how that cycle actually ran, because it did not run the way it was announced.
When this was written, Candlewood Lake was in the middle of its 2026 refill, and for anyone who lives on the lake, owns a dock, or watches waterfront values, the timing mattered.
FirstLight, which owns and operates the lake as part of the Rocky River Project, runs a planned drawdown every winter and brings the lake back to its summer operating level before Memorial Day. This year's drawdown was shallower than usual, and the refill is on schedule.
What Is Confirmed
According to FirstLight's annual drawdown announcement, the 2025-2026 drawdown of Candlewood Lake, including Squantz Pond, started on Monday, January 19, 2026. The same release confirms that water levels will return to normal summer operating ranges prior to Memorial Day 2026.
Two elevations to keep straight:
- Normal summer operating range: 429.5' to 427'
- 2025-2026 shallow drawdown target: 424', with a 2' winter operations range from 424' to 422'
The drawdown was executed in consultation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Candlewood Lake Authority.
Why This Year Was a Shallow Drawdown
FirstLight rotates between deeper and shallower drawdowns under its Shoreline Management Plan. The 2025-2026 winter was a shallow year, which is why the lake did not drop as far as it has in some past winters. The Candlewood Lake Authority's republished press release spells out the agreed elevation targets.
A shallow year normally means less exposed shoreline, a shorter window for shoreline work, and a faster visual return to summer. That is not how this one ended. Once FirstLight moved to deep drawdown elevations at the end of January, owners had more exposed shoreline and a longer working window than the announcement implied, not less. If you deferred seawall, crib or dock work that winter on the strength of a shallow forecast, that was the window, and it was a good one. The wider lesson for planning any year: the announced plan is a plan, and FirstLight can be ordered off it.
What the Refill Means If You Use the Lake
By the time Memorial Day weekend lands, the lake is intended to be back inside its 429.5' to 427' summer band. That has practical implications:
- Fixed docks that need a certain water depth to be usable should be back online across most of the lake.
- Floating docks settle into their summer position.
- Boat launches and marinas typically resume normal operations once levels stabilize.
- Hazards exposed during low water - rocks, stumps, shoals - get covered again. Early-season boaters should still slow down in unfamiliar coves until they re-learn the bottom.
For current lake levels, FirstLight directs the public to its automated lake level phone line at 888-417-4837. The Candlewood Lake Authority also shares drawdown information and official updates, but FirstLight is the source for daily lake level reporting.
Why the "440 Line" Comes Up Every Spring
If you spend any time around Candlewood Lake real estate, you have heard about the "440 line." Its formal name is the Rocky River Project Boundary. The Candlewood Lake Authority's shoreline homeowner page explains how it works.
The short version:
- FirstLight owns the lake and the shoreline up to roughly the 440' elevation.
- Most waterfront owners own down to the Project Boundary, but not below it.
- The boundary does not precisely follow 440' in every location. A land survey is what officially places it on a given parcel.
- Modifications below the line - dock changes, sea walls, vegetation removal, sheds - need FirstLight approval through the FirstLight permits portal, and then town approval.
That is why refill season tends to surface questions every spring about who is allowed to do what at the water's edge.
What Is Not Confirmed
FirstLight publishes the target end date for the refill, not a specific hour or day the lake hits 429.5'. Weather, inflow, and operational decisions shift the timeline a little year over year. Until the lake is officially inside the summer operating range, "the lake is full" comments in Facebook groups should be treated as anecdotal, not as confirmation.
Bottom Line
- The 2025-2026 drawdown was announced as a shallow one targeting 424 feet, but it did not stay shallow. On January 31, 2026 FirstLight said it would draw the lake down "from the planned levels associated with a shallow drawdown (424'-422'), to levels associated with a deep drawdown (420'-418')" to comply with a Department of Energy emergency order supporting grid stability during a cold snap.
- FirstLight is on schedule to have the lake back inside the 429.5' to 427' summer range before Memorial Day 2026.
- Waterfront use - docks, launches, marinas - is timed around that refill.
- Anything below the Rocky River Project Boundary still belongs to FirstLight, drawdown or not.
- FirstLight and the Candlewood Lake Authority remain the only sources worth quoting on lake levels.
Sources
- FirstLight - Annual Drawdown of Lake Zoar, Lake Lillinonah, and Candlewood Lake
- Candlewood Lake Authority - FirstLight Press Release on Planned Shallow Drawdown for 2025-2026 Winter Season
- Candlewood Lake Authority - Drawdown information
- Candlewood Lake Authority - Shoreline Homeowners
- FirstLight Power - Permits
License / Representation Note
Connor Kostyra is a Real Estate Salesperson with RE/MAX RISE. This post is informational and based on publicly available sources from FirstLight and the Candlewood Lake Authority.
More on how the lake is managed: what the 2026 deep drawdown changed, the islands closure, and who actually owns the shoreline.
What the Lake Authority's own drawdown page adds
Checked September 4, 2026. The Candlewood Lake Authority keeps a standing drawdown page that reads as the rulebook behind every spring's refill, and it is blunter than any single notice. Its fast facts, as printed: "There is no set schedule for the drawdown of Candlewood Lake and timing is dependent on a variety of factors including weather, water availability, and electricity markets." "The lake level can change intermittently at any point during the 'Drawdown Period' (Nov 1. to Memorial Day) including periods of high water levels." And: "The only way to ensure your docks and other in-lake material won't be damaged by ice is to completely remove them from the lake." The page adds that "FirstLight has the authority to reduce the water level as early as November 1," where "in the past, it was typical for the lake's water level to remain high until the end of December or the beginning of January."
The page also carries FirstLight's notice for the 2025 to 2026 winter, which said the shallow drawdown would start "after November 1, 2025, as weather conditions allow," that "in recent years, the annual drawdown of Candlewood Lake has typically been initiated between December and February," and that "the trend toward warmer and wetter winter weather, widely attributed to climate change, has and may continue to push the drawdown to this later timeframe." On why the lake is lowered at all, the Authority says the drawdown "has primarily been done to control the invasive plants," that "for the past four years, there has been very little plant life in Candlewood Lake, so controlling plants is not the goal," and that it now also serves dam and pump maintenance, homeowners' access to their waterfront, and the killing of exposed zebra mussels.
Two things follow for anyone reading a spring refill as a promise. The refill date is a target, not a schedule, and the same page that gives it says the level can move at any point until Memorial Day. And the Authority's May 16, 2026 notice, three weeks before that holiday, said it was "still in the process of deploying the hazard, speed and navigation buoys" and advised boaters "to use extra caution, depth finders and detailed bathymetric maps," which is the practical meaning of a refill that is confirmed on paper before it is complete on the water.
Common questions about the Candlewood refill and lake levels
When does Candlewood refill after the winter drawdown?
FirstLight brings the lake back to its summer operating level before Memorial Day each year. The normal summer operating range is 429.5 feet to 427 feet. For the 2025 to 2026 winter specifically, the drawdown of Candlewood Lake including Squantz Pond began on Monday, January 19, 2026, and FirstLight confirmed that water levels would return to normal summer operating ranges prior to Memorial Day 2026. The drawdown itself was executed in consultation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Candlewood Lake Authority.
How do I check the current lake level?
FirstLight directs the public to its automated lake level phone line at 888-417-4837, and that is the source for daily lake level reporting. The Candlewood Lake Authority also shares drawdown information and official updates, which are useful for understanding the plan and the schedule, but for an actual current number the FirstLight line is the one to call.
What is a shallow drawdown, and why does the depth change year to year?
FirstLight rotates between deeper and shallower drawdowns under its Shoreline Management Plan. The 2025 to 2026 winter was a shallow year, targeting 424 feet with a two foot winter operations range from 424 down to 422. For a waterfront owner a shallow year means less exposed shoreline, a shorter window for shoreline work, and a faster visual return to summer. A deep year is the reverse: more disruption to look at, but a genuine working window for seawall, crib and dock repair that is hard to get any other time.
What is the 440 line everyone mentions in spring?
Its formal name is the Rocky River Project Boundary. FirstLight owns the lake and the shoreline up to roughly the 440 foot elevation, and most waterfront owners own down to that Project Boundary but not below it. The important caveat is that the boundary does not precisely follow 440 feet in every location, so a land survey is what officially places it on a given parcel rather than the number itself. Modifications below the line, including dock changes, sea walls, vegetation removal and sheds, need FirstLight approval through its permits portal and then town approval.
What should I watch for on the water right after a refill?
Hazards that were exposed during low water, meaning rocks, stumps and shoals, get covered again as the lake comes up, so early season boaters should slow down in unfamiliar coves until they have re-learned the bottom. On the dock side, fixed docks that need a certain water depth to be usable should be back online across most of the lake once levels stabilize, floating docks settle into their summer position, and boat launches and marinas typically resume normal operations.
Related reading: Candlewood's drawdown, in FirstLight's own words, where Candlewood's weeds went, and when they come back, Candlewood Lake water quality in 2025, read for a buyer.
Connor Kostyra, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson, CT Lic. RES.0836348.
Connor CT Homes is a marketing brand. Real estate services are provided through RE/MAX Rise, 1297 Main Street, Watertown, CT 06795.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Details change; confirm current facts with the town, the community and the relevant agency before relying on anything here.
