Loch Lomand filling back up; Lake Ann level dropping

One Bella Vista lake is in the process of filling back up while another is on its way down as Property Owners Association officials complete one project and begin preparations for another.

During the Lakes Joint Advisory Committee meeting, held March 9 at the boardroom of the Bella Vista Country Club, updates were given on the Loch Lomand refill and the sinkhole repair project at Lake Ann that is forcing a draw down of that lake.

Chairman Matt Champagne said after the meeting that Loch Lomand is filling back up after a draw down that allowed property owners a chance to make dock repairs.

“They closed the valve today, so it’s going to begin to fill back up,” he said. “Under normal circumstances we think the lake will be full within a month. Obviously if we get a heavy rainfall it could fill overnight.”

The lake level was brought down about four feet.

“We’ve done six feet before, but this time we decided just to do four,” Champagne said. “If you go lower than that you create some other issues with docks and things like that. You have to pull them farther out.”

While Loch Lomand is on its way up, Lake Ann is going in the opposite direction in preparation for the filling of a sinkhole near the spillway at the lake’s dam.

According to Lakes and Fisheries Superintendent Rick Echols, runoff from the Lake Ann spillway cut into the rocks between the spillway and Pinion Creek, causing a sinkhole that is approximately 141 cubic yards deep.

The lake is being drawn down through a siphon that runs through the dam. It will be brought down to a level below the spillway in order to allow crews to fill the sinkhole while not being interrupted by water from the spillway.

“We’ve started with the draw down,” said Echols. “It looks like within a couple of weeks they’re going to do the work. We’ve got the siphon going and most of the water is not going through the creek anymore, it’s going through the siphon.

There’s still a little bit of a trickle going through the creek. It’ll be down at maximum about two feet.”

Echols said while property owners may have to adjust their floating docks, the drop won’t present problems to those using the lake.

“It won’t affect the boat ramp,” he said. “People will still be able to access the lake through the boat ramp. People with floating docks may need to make some adjustments. They may need to let their docks out a bit to keep them floating. But it shouldn’t cause any problems.”

He said the desired level should be reached “in a week to 10 days,” allowing work to begin by the end of the month, as originally scheduled.

“I really don’t know how long they need for (the amount of concrete used to fill the sinkhole) to cure,” he said. “I would assume a week or so for that large amount of material. Then we can let the lake come back up.”

Echols said he expects to have the lake back up to its original level by the middle of April.