Bentonville erred in just going with the flow

Concerning the Bella Vista Lake/creek discussion, I confess I live in Bella Vista, so my opinion is considered worthless to the Bentonville power brokers. I do walk around the area almost every day. We in Bella Vista knew the dam system was old and ineffective. A new dam was needed, so we were thrilled to hear Bentonville would take custodianship of the area and the city had the funds needed to install a new dam system. Our Veterans Wall of Honor deserved a beautiful and tranquil location.

Now Bentonville has betrayed us by forcing the area to go au naturel. The reason: Mother Nature knows best. I’m sorry to disagree with the environmentalists pushing for this change, but that logic is not always true.

Was the Corps of Engineers foolish to establish Beaver Lake? Was Alice Walton wrong to take a flood plain area and turn it into Crystal Bridges lake? Did the Bentonville park system engineers even research the reason the Bella Vista lake was established?

The lake reduced the stagnant pools that accumulate in the area, producing foul smells and attracting mosquitoes. The lake level could be kept at a stable level (except for 100 year floods) allowing children and the elderly to fish off the shore from the parking lot. Now only the adventuresome can make the walk or climb down to the water.

The land around the creek is overgrown with weeds and muddy. The creek level will fluctuate, discouraging fish to live in its waters. It’s also not as if the creek disappeared when the lake existed. It was a free-flowing creek on both ends of the lake and we benefited from having the best of both worlds. Yes, there were problems but a new modem dam would solve those problems. I am not sure how long it will take for Bentonville Parks and the city fathers to realize they made a mistake by dismissing the idea of a new dam.

We were proud of the beautiful lake that welcomed visitors into Bella Vista; now that water source is just an eye sore.

DONNA HUTCHINSON

Bella Vista