FirstLight, the public utility company that operates multiple hydroelectric facilities along the Housatonic River, has announced its schedule for annual drawdowns of the lakes where it stores water to generate hydroelectric power.

The drawdowns allow the company to perform maintenance and inspect its various equipment, as well as provide property owners along the lakes to do maintenance along the shoreline.

FirstLight is scheduled to start its drawdown of Lake Zoar at the Stevenson Dam power station on Friday, October 27.

The water level in the lake will be returned to its normal level by Sunday, November 5. Lake Zoar is an 11-mile-long impoundment of the Housatonic River behind Stevenson Dam.

FirstLight is slated to start its drawdown of Lake Lillinonah at Shepaug Dam on Monday, November 6. Lake Lillinonah is scheduled to return to its normal level by Wednesday, November 15.

Lake Lillinonah is an impoundment on the river behind Shepaug Dam.

FirstLight is scheduled to start a drawdown of Candlewood Lake and the connected Squantz Pond on Friday, December 1.

Besides allowing maintenance and inspections, that drawdown will expose the lake's Eurasian aquatic milfoil to subfreezing temperatures, which is intended to curb the invasive weed's spread during the recreational season. Candlewood Lake and Squantz Pond will be returned to their normal levels before the start of the trout fishing season in April 2018.

FirstLight advises property owners with structures and docks along the lakes to remove them during the drawdowns to prevent them from being damaged by ice in the winter.