Ruger
05-05-2004, 01:33 PM
Taken from the Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN
Dry death to revive ailing lake
Dredging, planting follow draining of Wapanocca
By Tom Charlier
Contact
May 5, 2004
TURRELL, Ark. - It spreads out across 600 scenic acres, but Wapanocca Lake must be destroyed so that it can be saved.
That's the intent of a project launched by federal officials Tuesday. By removing boards from a water-control structure, they began draining all the water out the lake.
"We're going to try to have it dry by the end of this summer," said Ryan Mollnow, biologist for a group of refuges that includes Wapanocca.
Surrounded by 1,200 acres of cypress-tupelo swamp, the lake is a central feature of Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, located less than 20 miles northwest of downtown Memphis.
The project there is designed to restore what once was one of the area's top fishing spots for bream and crappie. As recently as the late-1970s, the cars and boat trailers of fishermen lined Ark. 77 near the refuge on many weekends.
In recent years, however, the lake has become increasingly stagnant, murky and inhospitable for fish, except for "rough" species such as gar. During dry periods, the lake withered into pools that were virtually depleted of oxygen.
A major reason for the decline was that Big Creek, the historic source of water for the lake, was rerouted around it because fish in the creek were found to be tainted with farm pesticides. Without the flushing effect of the creek, the oxygen-consuming organic material washing into the lake from surrounding areas accumulated.
Also, the ground water that once helped replenish the lake has dropped as a result of heavy irrigation for nearby rice farms.
"During the '70s, fishing was fantastic. Of course, we had a freshwater source that we don't have now," said Glen Miller, who manages the Wapanocca refuge.
The draining of the lake, which will require some excavation in an outlet channel, will allow for the drying and decomposition of the organic material on the bottom. The material is bound up in a layer of muck that's nearly 6 feet thick, Miller said.
"That's going to take a while to dry out," he added.
Once the bottom is sufficiently dry, officials plan to move heavy equipment onto it to dig out deeper areas where fish can find refuge during droughts.
Plans also call for placement of pea gravel to allow for bass spawning and the dragging of hollow logs and brush to the middle of the lake to serve as havens and nurseries for other species.
"Once you get away from the cypress-tupelo areas surrounding the lake, you're looking at a mud-flat bottom," Mollnow said.
As a further step in the restoration, officials plan to plant the bottom in milo, a grain that will consume some of the oxygen-depleting nutrients in the water.
The lake draw-down, however, won't solve a long-term problem facing the lake: the need for a consistent freshwater source.
Officials say they plan to evaluate possible sources for the future.
"Our goal is to have a lake that doesn't look like pea soup," Mollnow said.
Dry death to revive ailing lake
Dredging, planting follow draining of Wapanocca
By Tom Charlier
Contact
May 5, 2004
TURRELL, Ark. - It spreads out across 600 scenic acres, but Wapanocca Lake must be destroyed so that it can be saved.
That's the intent of a project launched by federal officials Tuesday. By removing boards from a water-control structure, they began draining all the water out the lake.
"We're going to try to have it dry by the end of this summer," said Ryan Mollnow, biologist for a group of refuges that includes Wapanocca.
Surrounded by 1,200 acres of cypress-tupelo swamp, the lake is a central feature of Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, located less than 20 miles northwest of downtown Memphis.
The project there is designed to restore what once was one of the area's top fishing spots for bream and crappie. As recently as the late-1970s, the cars and boat trailers of fishermen lined Ark. 77 near the refuge on many weekends.
In recent years, however, the lake has become increasingly stagnant, murky and inhospitable for fish, except for "rough" species such as gar. During dry periods, the lake withered into pools that were virtually depleted of oxygen.
A major reason for the decline was that Big Creek, the historic source of water for the lake, was rerouted around it because fish in the creek were found to be tainted with farm pesticides. Without the flushing effect of the creek, the oxygen-consuming organic material washing into the lake from surrounding areas accumulated.
Also, the ground water that once helped replenish the lake has dropped as a result of heavy irrigation for nearby rice farms.
"During the '70s, fishing was fantastic. Of course, we had a freshwater source that we don't have now," said Glen Miller, who manages the Wapanocca refuge.
The draining of the lake, which will require some excavation in an outlet channel, will allow for the drying and decomposition of the organic material on the bottom. The material is bound up in a layer of muck that's nearly 6 feet thick, Miller said.
"That's going to take a while to dry out," he added.
Once the bottom is sufficiently dry, officials plan to move heavy equipment onto it to dig out deeper areas where fish can find refuge during droughts.
Plans also call for placement of pea gravel to allow for bass spawning and the dragging of hollow logs and brush to the middle of the lake to serve as havens and nurseries for other species.
"Once you get away from the cypress-tupelo areas surrounding the lake, you're looking at a mud-flat bottom," Mollnow said.
As a further step in the restoration, officials plan to plant the bottom in milo, a grain that will consume some of the oxygen-depleting nutrients in the water.
The lake draw-down, however, won't solve a long-term problem facing the lake: the need for a consistent freshwater source.
Officials say they plan to evaluate possible sources for the future.
"Our goal is to have a lake that doesn't look like pea soup," Mollnow said.