Water in one of the lakes in the Lewes Lake chain is still missing, area residents say.

Early last Friday morning, residents in the Lewes Lake area awoke to find that the lake their homes bordered had disappeared sometime during the night.

Brad Finnson, a Department of Environment water inspection officer, said Friday the water had drained out of one of the lower lakes in the chain due to a breach in a local beaver dam.

'It's a substantial amount of water (that's missing),' he said.

Finnson said he expected the beavers in the area to repair the dam in short order.

He said the dam breaching was likely a natural event and there was no evidence that there had been any human intervention in the event.

Lewes Lake area resident Carol Tuck said Tuesday no beavers have been seen in the area of the breached dam since last Friday morning and she feared the beavers wouldn't be able to repair the dam.

'We would love them to start work, but we don't think they are going to.'

She said the water was running 'fast and deep' through the breach in the dam, which she estimated to be about 4.2 metres (14 feet) wide and 4.5 metres (15 feet) deep, making it difficult for the beavers to get at the damage.

She also said many birds in the area were feasting on some fish and other aquatic life who were now dying on the exposed lake bottom.

Tuck said she hoped the beavers would be able to build new dams down from the damaged one as she and other residents would appreciate having their lake back.

Sharon Hickey said said she was very surprised last Friday when she woke up and saw that her lake was missing.

'It was like somebody had pulled the plug out on a bathtub.

'We felt dumbfounded; I mean, there's no one that you can call to say, Hello, I'd like to report a lake missing.''

She said water in the area was still draining and she was concerned about all the animals that used the Lewes Lake chain as their habitat.

She said she was hopeful the beavers would rebuild but was considering applying for a permit to help them build a replacement for the missing dam.

Fellow resident Cal Waddington agreed with Tuck.

'The lake is definitely lower. The lower two little lakes have drained because the beaver dam kicked out,' he said.

'The dam holds the water in check and holds the levels; it's been there for a long time.'

He said he was worried that the missing water would create pressure on dams further up the chain as there would be more pressure on one side of the dam than the other, which could lead to another dam blowout. The big lake could conceivably come down.

'They're (the dams) vital to the area. I'm hoping those guys go back and rebuild,' Waddington said.