Elmdale spillway repair ongoing

The repair to the Lake Elmdale spillway is ongoing despite temporary setbacks caused by virus issues and recent rain from Hurricane Laura, according to the state Game and Fish Commission.

The lake is between Springdale and Elm Springs.

“The contractor has completed clearing and grubbing to access the area. He’s done about 90% of the earthwork and has begun placing riprap with filter fabric in the spillway drainage to slow erosion,” said Mike Cantrell, facility and operations manager at with the commission. “With the exception of some rainfall presenting short delays, the project is progressing as scheduled.”

The repair was authorized by Game and Fish during the April meeting of the commissioners, with $1 million budgeted for the work. One-half of the cost will be reimbursable by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, since the initial damage was the result of significant flooding in 2018.

Kevin Mullen, chief of the Game and Fish operations division, said the damage isn’t to the lake’s dam, but to the spillway area downstream that began washing away as a result of the flooding. Subsequent floods have worsened the initial damage, prompting quick action on the part of the agency.

Damage from the flooding has enabled flow from the lake to continue scouring away at the runout. The flow has seen a major increase since the lake’s construction in 1953 with increased residential housing and construction near the lake.

“There is no real ground saturation from rainfall,” Mullen noted. “All of it goes straight into the lake. There is nothing you can do about that. That’s just one of those things that came with changes and growth and private development.”