NEWCASTLE (AP) – When heavy rains last month washed away a dam and drained Sherman Lake, they left in its place a tidal estuary that turns to 216 acres of mud when the tide goes out.

Property owners who lost lakefront views and the chance to fish, canoe or kayak from their doorstep are looking to the state to rebuild the dam and restore the lake, but the state Department of Transportation says it has no money budgeted for such a project.

Representatives of various state and federal agencies plan to tour the site Wednesday, and the DOT is inviting comment from the public about what to do about the breached dam.

Sherman Lake dates to 1934, when the state built old Route 1 over the tidal Marsh River. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife later stocked the lake with fish, and it became one of the more popular fishing spots in the midcoast region.

But on Oct. 9, the dam broke and the lake emptied into the Marsh River, which flows into the Sheepscot River and eventually reaches the ocean. It was a day Edward Dougherty and his wife, Marva Nesbit, who built their dream home on the lake three years ago, won’t soon forget.

“I was horrified,” said Nesbit, who nearly fell over when her husband told her the lake had vanished. “We used to live in heaven. Now, it’s a mud flat.”

The couple, along with other property owners and Newcastle selectmen, hope the dam will be rebuilt, but not everyone supports that stance.

The Damariscotta River Association says the creation of a wetland on the site could provide valuable habitat for birds and saltwater fish, as well as clam diggers and wormers.

“We don’t have a position, but we certainly encourage the maintenance of naturally occurring ecosystems and habitats,” said Mark Desmeules, the conservation group’s director.

But Roy Lazarus, a former New York City opera director, singer and academic, hopes the lake is restored to what it was when he bought an old farmhouse along its shore in 1979.

Recalling how he used to look forward to the drive from Portland International Jetport to his new home in Newcastle, Lazarus, 75, said he had to check his blood pressure after the lake disappeared in early October.

“When I drove over that Route 1 bridge, it was like a curtain being raised. I’ve always had that feeling that I was entering the real Maine. I wasn’t really in love with the house, as much as I loved the land and the lake,” he said.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, https://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-11-07-05 1101EST