Lake talk : Beaver Lake focus of session
Posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008
Harper
BENTONVILLE - The Benton County Planning and Development Department held a special education session Wednesday night in conjunction with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers on the daily operations and management of Beaver Lake.
With more than 40 Benton County residents in attendance, the education session was designed to shed some light on the day-to-day activities of Beaver Lake.
"Obviously, Beaver Lake is a big issue in Benton County, and I thought there are obviously some things about the operation of Beaver Lake that we do not know," said Ashley Pope, planning director for Benton County. Pope and her staff organized Wednesday's meeting.
"We wanted to do this education session because Beaver Lake is so important to so many people in Benton County and as a part of continuing the process of educating the people about the environment of Benton County, both the built and natural environments," Pope said.
Many of those in attendance were at the meeting to make sure they got the facts.
"I am curious about the lake," Hank Euler of Rogers said. "I use the lake a lot. I fish below the dam, and I am a taxpayer. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about how Beaver Lake ought to be used, and I just want to get the facts."
On hand to make sure everyone understands Beaver Lake management and operations were Park Ranger Alan Bland and Operations Manager Sean Harper, both of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Comprised of 483 miles of shoreline and 31, 700 acres of water, Beaver Lake is used mainly as a flood-damagereduction lake, to generate hydro-power and as a watersupply source for the region, in addition to being used for recreation, Harper said.
Managing the lake has become a challenge as the Corps only receives a small budget allocated by Congress for operations each year. The money that is collected by the lake's day-use areas and concessions each year is not returned to the lake for its use.
Instead, that money is given directly to the U. S. Treasury and used to repay the $ 46. 2 million cost to build Beaver Lake in the 1960 s. In 2007, those revenues amounted to $ 1. 05 million, none of which was given back to the lake itself, Harper said.
One project the Corps is working on is getting a percentage of that money returned to the lake itself for maintenance and modernization of the lake's parks, Harper said.
"Since 1997, Beaver Lake has had a flat budget," Harper said. "We are operating on a basic work allowance that Congress gives us each year."
One obstacle facing the Corps, which is charged with maintaining Beaver Lake, is that its operating budget increases 3 percent per year on average, while operating costs rise between 10 percent and 30 percent each year, Harper said.
One way that Beaver Lake keeps going is through its volunteers.
Bland discussed some of the things the Corps is responsible for at Beaver Lake.
"A big part of our thing is water safety," Bland said. "We want to make sure people are doing the right thing and being safe on the lake."
Beaver Lake will be host to 60 bass tournaments next year, in addition to challenging more than 2, 000 bikers, swimmers and joggers in a national Iron Man event next August, Bland said.
A large part of the Corps' job on Beaver Lake is resource management.
"We manage this lake not only for today but for your grandkids and their grandkids. We want them to have the same opportunities you have," Bland said.
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