BELLA VISTA -- Bentonville will get more than $2.7 million from the federal government to replace the rickety Lake Bella Vista dam, ending a debate on whether to remove it so the creek could return to its natural state.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the funding Tuesday.
The money will help cover the cost of demolition, removal and disposal of the original earthen dam, as well as the materials and labor required to build a replacement dam, according to a news release. Lake Bella Vista formed after completion of the dam in 1915.
Bentonville annexed the 132-acre property that includes Lake Bella Vista in October 2005. The acreage included the dam and surrounding trails. Bentonville's Parks and Recreation Department oversees the property.
No structural repairs have been made to the dam in recent years, according to Ben Peters, Bentonville city engineer. FEMA assessed the dam after Bentonville sought help repairing it.
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin thanked Sen. John Boozman and Rep. Steve Womack, both R-Ark., for help securing the money.
"We're very grateful," McCaslin said. "We'll now proceed with the usual process of design, and ultimately that leads us into construction."
Greg Van Horn, leader of Friends of Little Sugar Creek, a group which campaigned to have the dam removed so the creek could return to its natural state, said in a statement Tuesday that he was disappointed.
"People from Northwest Arkansas oppose their valuable tax dollars being spent to reconstruct this obsolete dam, which impounds a silted and shallow reservoir where swimming is prohibited, fishing is unsustainable and water quality is poor," Van Horn wrote.
"Restoring the flow of Little Sugar Creek by removing the dam would recreate a living, moving Ozark waterway; eliminate harmful algae blooms which de-oxygenate water and kill aquatic animals and plants; and provide new opportunities for family recreation along the creek."
Bentonville has sought federal funding to repair the dam since 2008, when it was topped by floodwater. An environmental assessment in 2008 by engineering firm Chiang, Patel & Yerby estimated the project would cost $3.5 million. The federal money represents a 75 percent federal cost share, according to the release.
The dam was built in 1915 at the north end of the lake and has been damaged by storms several times, including another large flood in 2011 that sent water over the top and caused erosion.
"The most noticeable deficiency is there is not a clay core to the dam and the spillway is not capable of conveying a large storm event," Peters said after the 2011 flood. "Overtopped-water runs over the entire length of the dam and one of the biggest no-nos with an earth dam is you don't let water run over the top."
The dam is 14 feet tall and 600 feet long, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
The lake served as a focal point for the Bella Vista resort from the early 1920s to the mid-1960s. Carole Harter, president of the Bella Vista Historical Society, was excited after hearing of Tuesday's announcement.
"I think it is an excellent thing that this dam will be improved so that the longevity of the lake is more assured," Harter said.
Metro on 09/30/2015