Numerous concrete ruptures on the Bear Creek Lake dam spillway have prompted an emergency drawdown of the lake that locals say will hurt the area's fishing industry.
The 1938-built dam and spillway are owned by the U.S. Forestry Service. The dam created the 625-acre lake in the St. Francis National Forest and within Mississippi River State Park near Marianna.
The lake is known for good fishing, but the drawdown means fishing boats can no longer be safely launched from the lake's only boat ramp.
"I'm sure we will see a large drop-off in the number of campers that make reservations for springtime," said Kristina Root-Carranza, the state park superintendent.
Spring weather, which can start as early as late February in Arkansas, is when fishing season takes off. The park hosts six to seven fishing tournaments, ranging in size from about 25 competitors to about 100. Class AAA campgrounds are full on weekends through Thanksgiving, minus a couple of late-summer weekends when school starts again.
The north end of the park, where Bear Creek Lake is, had 60,000 visitors last year.
The lake itself isn't closed. People can still put in kayaks and canoes from the shoreline. The state park rents johnboats that are already on the water.
People won't be able to swim, however, because a 10-foot drawdown means the swim beach is 50 feet from the lake, Root-Carranza said. Bear Creek Lake's swim beach is the only free swimming site in Lee County.
When the lake will rise again depends on the conditions of the spillway. Spillways control the release of water from a dam in the event of a leak or excessive rain that causes dam operators to open floodgates.
The Forest Service began drawing down the lake a couple of weeks ago and intends to lower it a total of 10 feet. That's to relieve pressure on the damaged spillway.
Exactly when the spillway can be repaired is unclear. First, the Forest Service needs an engineer to assess the damage. St. Francis National Forest personnel have requested a geotechnical engineering assessment from their regional office, but they don't know when they will get a response to that request.
"We really won't know anything about time or money required or anything until we get an assessment from that engineer," said Tracy Farley, a spokeswoman for the St. Francis National Forest.
After that, the officials will need to request funding to repair it.
Locals have been working with the Forest Service on a solution and on finding money.
The length of time it may take to fix the spillway makes cabin owner Linda Reeves nervous.
"The impact -- economic impact -- is very, very important, because we have so many fishermen here," said Reeves, president of the Bear Creek Cabin Owners Association.
Forty-eight cabins surround the lake, Reeves said, and they're often used by fishermen.
"People won't come, and it will impact the economics ... from food to groceries to fishing," said Reeves, who is otherwise retired. "It will be a very bad hit if we can't get the lake, the spillway, fixed quickly."
The nation's dams are aging. Like most dams, Bear Creek Lake's dam is earthen, designed to last about 50 years. Funding is a big challenge in repairing dams, many of which have poor condition ratings from their state oversight agencies.
A 2015 inspection of Bear Creek Lake's dam found no problems with the spillway. Farley said the damage was likely caused by last year's heavy spring rains.
While the boat ramp and swim beach are closed, state park workers will repair erosion at the campgrounds and make improvements to the swim beach, Root-Carranza said.
They'll also promote other things that the park has to offer: interpretive tours, Storm Creek Lake and other lakes with good fishing. But Root-Carranza wants to see the lake back up to normal soon, ideally by peak swimming season.
She notes that state government has made $13.6 million in investments recently in new campgrounds, the visitors' center and other infrastructure.
"So we're hoping that the federal government can help with our endeavors ... and find the money to fix the issue," she said.
SundayMonday on 01/12/2020
CORRECTION: Fishermen often use cabins, but cannot rent them, in the St. Francis National Forest. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated how they were used by fishermen.