Black Bass Lake recreational projects ready to hit the trail

Parks Director Bruce Levine (far left) points out features of the Black Bass Lake trail to Planning Commissioners (from left) Ken Foggo, Ed Leswig, Leah Karnes and Lany Ballance. Behind them is the masonry dam and lake.

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Black Bass Lake, created by a masonry dam almost as old as the city itself, was Eureka Springs' drinking water supply into the 1960s. It is one of the city's hidden treasures; few know about it or where to find it.

But that may change as the Parks Department has recently accepted bids for work to make hiking/biking trails and parking and canoe/kayak launch areas at the lake.

The cost and scope of the work

Parks received an 80/20 grant for $60,000 last year from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department for the trail project.

Its $12,000 share was mostly funded by $10,000 from the Community Development Partnership. The other $2,000 will be in-kind labor and materials.

Parks put out three bid packages for work to develop trails and features around the lake. The low bid for building a 3-foot-wide, 2,100-foot trail around the lake with two fishing areas was awarded to Donald West of Butterfield Publishing in Fayetteville for $4,725. The company is devoted to mountain biking, has published books and articles and has been involved in trail building for more than 10 years.

At the trailhead, a parking area and kiosk will be developed.

A bid for metal work to create an iron railing across the dam was awarded to low bidder Chris Epley of Epley Welding for $7,995.

A bid for carpentry work to create two wooden foot bridges across the far end of the lake was awarded to low bidder Chuck Schmidt of Eureka Construction and Landscaping for $5,735.

The Forestry Service, which has an office at Lake Leatherwood, will provide in-kind work in the form of grading the road and a handicapped-accessible parking area with a small boat launch.

Another trail, along the southeast side of the lake, will be 8 feet wide, with three fishing areas, and will be handicapped-accessible. That trail has not been bid yet.

Parks Director Bruce Levine said if there is money left over, Parks is looking at installing a concrete non-flush toilet restroom building.

Part of a larger plan

Black Bass Lake is located at the end of Oil Springs Road, off US62W across from Glenn Street. A dirt road winds down a hill past bluffs and overhangs to a parking area. There are a few residences in the area.

In 2003, the Carroll County Community Development Partnership identified Black Bass Lake as a city asset that should be explored as another area for outdoor recreation, said Levine.

"It's part of a larger plan to develop a trail from Black Bass Lake to [the town of] Beaver," he said. The CDP got a state appropriation to develop a conceptual route.

That route would most likely follow along Leatherwood Creek, out Hwy. 23 North to Hwy. 187 and through Elk Ranch to Beaver. This project remains conceptual, however, as some private landowners have expressed objections to public traffic through their land.

The history of the dam

The history of Black Bass Lake and dam is an interesting one. After four devastating fires between 1883 and 1892, the city contracted with the Brownell Company of Chicago, Ill., to construct a 150-foot long, 12-foot high limestone masonry dam in a hollow below Sycamore Spring. Several springs would feed the lake, including Oil, Arsenic and Saucer springs.

The plan included a stone boiler house with two boilers, two steam-powered pumps to supply 500 gallons of water each, a 100-foot high standpipe, 6- and 8-inch water mains and 43 fire hydrants, all at a cost of $75,000.

After a drought and poor water quality around the turn of the century sparked citizen demands for a better water supply, a new dam was completed on top of the existing dam in 1916. It was 56 feet high and 450 feet long, the "Ozarks' highest dam" at the time, according to the Joplin, Mo., Globe.

This new dam, with two more pumps installed, increased the water capacity from 83,000 gallons to 1.5 million gallons per day.

Just one little problem -- maybe

In 2004, Eureka police officers raised the alarm that the masonry dam was leaking severely, and the department alerted Public Works.

The city passed Ordinance 1967 on an emergency clause to effect repairs. Capital funds of up to $40,000 were approved for the work.

Holes were drilled through the top deck of the dam, and voids were filled within the dam with pumpable pressure grout.

"We reduced the seeping considerably," said Ron Tracy of Tracy Consulting Engineers. "We low-pressure cement grouted the worst areas."

He said there is no way to assess how long the repair will last, and what was done was a "temporary fix."

"It could have gotten better. The seeps could have filled in with siltation or mineral deposits. Others may get worse due to the erosive effect of the seeps."

There is still some leakage at the dam now.

"Every dam does seep and leak," Tracy said. "It's a matter of degree. There are ongoing problems with that dam."

Is Levine worried? It's been difficult getting an answer about the dam's stability out of Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation, which inspects dams.

"I talked to the engineer," Levine said. "They said they inspected the dam in 1981 and recommended drawing the lake down to a certain level so it would not be a hazard. Flow volume and surface area are down below the level required for them to inspect."

He said the trails project will not negatively impact the dam.

"I can see nothing we're doing that is detrimental to the dam," he said. "It's a chicken or egg. What do you do first?"

In the case of funds, it's the trail project. There are no funds for further repairs on the dam at this time, and the trails grant money cannot be transferred.

Whether the dam needs further repairs soon is a question not even the consulting engineer can answer. Tracy said he could not give a good evaluation of what needs to happen.

"When we start fixing leaks like that, you fix the worst first, then the next and the next. When you fix one, the next hole gets worse."

Asked whether the dam was close to breaking in 2004, he could not say.

"It could have been a more catastrophic failure," he said.

The property owner nearest the dam, Sam Kirk, is not concerned.

_"(Then Public Works Director) Kirby Murray and I looked at the engineering and the volume of the water," Kirk said. "It might flood our lawn, but wouldn't affect the house. There's not much volume of water, so there's not that much pressure on it."

He said he is excited about the trails project and is a "big fan" of Parks.

"We use the facilities at Harmon Park. I spend probably 100 days a year at Lake Leatherwood. Everything I've seen them do has been nice."

The "hidden gem"

Concerns about the dam aside, Levine is excited about this project.

"For me, here is the really cool part," he said. "I've been up Oil Springs Road and across the creek after it rains, and it's all right. Someone who is impaired can go by the put-in and come to a handicapped access parking lot. From there it's closed to vehicle traffic. Then it's 1,600 feet of 8-foot wide trail.

"It's absolutely gorgeous. It would be a real wilderness experience for someone who would not normally be able to do this."

Work on the project will begin this fall when the weather is cooler, Levine said.