Long Creek dam repair still in limbo

Published 5:00 am Sunday, February 1, 2015

    Nearly six months after the city of Meridian announced Long Creek Reservoir would not be completely drained, funds have not been found to make needed repairs to a faulty dam.

    Meanwhile, golfers complain that the city has still made no provisions to water the fairways at Lakeview Golf Course, which is the golf course’s main source of irrigation and has been unusable since water levels at the lake have been lowered. The lake has been reduced from about 180 acres of water down to about 40 acres.

     James Dillard, who has golfed at Lakeview for years, said the course is no longer one of the prettier settings in East Mississippi for golf enthusiasts.

    “That use to be the lake there,” Dillard said as he pointed to an area pockmarked with scrub brush, bottomland and mudholes. “There use to be water in there. That’s why it this is called Lakeview, but now … it’s just mud view.”

    The issue of Long Creek Reservoir and its leaky dam has been a problem for Mayor Percy Bland’s administration for the past nine months. Past city administrations were aware of the problem and did nothing to fix it.

    The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality told the city in 2008 that the dam was unsafe because of water flowing beneath the concrete spillway at the dam.

    In September 2013, MDEQ sent a letter to Bland stating high water levels could cause a dam failure that could have catastrophic consequences for residents downstream from the lake. The letter told the city repairs to the dam need to be made before June 1, 2014, the official start of hurricane season.

    In July 2014, the city began draining the lake, prompting consternation among some area residents and displeasure by some Meridian City Council members who said they had not been informed the lake would be drained.

    After meeting between the city and MDEQ officials, an agreement was reached to take pressure off the dam by drawing down the lake and cutting a 40-foot section out of the dam to allow runoff during heavy rains.

    City officials have said it will cost a minimum of $500,000 to repair the dam so the lake can be refilled, but have said there are no funds available in the city’s tight budget.

    Hugh Smith, the city of Meridian’s Public Works director, said his department has been actively seeking funding for the project, but has not had success.

    “We do not have earmarked funds for this project,” Smith said. “We are looking at funding sources, including a state grant. We want to bring the dam into a modern design. That includes widening the spillway and bring the pool level up.”

    Fishermen still frequent the lake on weekends, but instead of being able to put a boat out, they have to fish from the banks. Dillard said the fishing is still good, but only because the fish there are in a much more confined area.

    Jack Rushing, 85, has played golf at Lakeview for 51 years, and still golfs there four times a week. He is angry the city has not done more to preserve what he feels is a great part of the area’s history and attraction.

    “It hasn’t had any water,” Rushing said of the golf course. “The city was suppose to dig a ditch that would bring water from the dam up to the pumps, but they never did it. It’s remarkable the course looks as it does, because we haven’t had water out here in six months.”

    Ward 2 Councilman Dustin Markham said members of the Meridian City Council have not been updated on progress on the lake or funding for dam repairs.

    Bland referred all matters regarding Long Creek Reservoir, the dam and Lakeview Golf Course to Chief Administrative Officer Mike McGrevey.

    McGrevey said Thursday he understands the public’s concerns.

    “At some point, we are going to get the dam fixed and the lake will be restored to its former state,” McGrevey said. “But it’s going to take time. We still need funding. We are working on it.”

    McGrevey said he is putting together a proposal for $5,000 that will help bring in a new pump system that will help get water to the golf course.

    Johnny Boykin, 74, of the Zero Community, said it can’t happen soon enough.

    “The city has done nothing,” Boykin said. “It’s gotten so bad, they are going to have to replace the sprinkler heads because there hasn’t been water run through them in 12 months.”

    Richie Camp, the course manager at Lakeview, credits his staff for keeping the course in reasonable playing shape. They have made do by stretching water hoses out to the areas where they will reach.

    “It’s made it tougher, but we can water our greens,” Camp said. “It’s hard to get water to the fairways. Still our ground crews have kept it in good shape. It will be better once they get the water system, which I heard might get started next month and be done by March.”