Northwest Arkansas celebrates 50 years of Beaver Lake
Thousands of people in Northwest Arkansas water ski, boat and fish in it and more than 400,000 residents drink from it.
Beaver Lake was completed 50 years ago and an event at Beaver Dam Site Park on Thursday brought people together to celebrate those 50 years and look toward its future.
“Not only does it provide our drinking water, it (supports) industries, commercial enterprises and gives those companies something to entice talent with, its scenic beauty,” said Alan Fortenberry of the Beaver Water District. “It’s a beautiful reservoir. We’ve got to protect what was given to us.”
U.S. Sen. John Boozman and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, both R-Rogers, were featured speakers and keynote speaker was Col. Robert Dixon, who was named Little Rock District commander for the Army Corps of Engineers in July. Raymond Burns, president of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, was event emcee.
All made reference to the integral role Beaver Lake had in the growth of Northwest Arkansas.
Boozman applauded the men and women who constructed the dam and those who keep it operating today.
“Beaver Lake is a foundation of growth of the area,” Boozman said. He acknowledged with an $19 trillion debt, money for the Corps of Engineers often gets pushed down on the list of priorities.
“The corps has a big job and they don’t always have the resources to do it,” Boozman said. “Because of the people here, the spirit of this part of the country, much has changed. The growth in the future is because of people.”
Many first referenced the controversy of building the dam and lake.
“Not all people were for the lake,” said Gene Bland of the Carroll Boone Water District. “Some were against it because it would cover their homes, the land and their livelihood in water. Some didn’t leave until the water was at their door.”
Moving homesteads, farms and families will do that, he said. Beaver Lake covered a river where Bland used to witness baptisms on Sunday, float past limestone bluffs, camp on the gravel bars and do lots of fishing. He could imagine why others had a strong attachment too, but seeing regular water supply made available to area residents was worth it, he said.
“It’s the most important asset in Northwest Arkansas,” Bland said.
Former elected officials paved the way for such a project to come to life, said Womack.
Womack referenced Claude Fuller, once mayor of Eureka Springs and congressman from 1929-39 helped pass the 1938 Flood Control Act, which was the “first domino” for the lake. U.S. Rep. Clyde T. Ellis, who served 1939-43, saw the opportunity to include hydropower generation in the Flood Act, he said. By Rep. Jim Trimble’s time, the use of the lake as a water supply helped secure money for the project.
“I’m honored to hold the office that had the critical role … who fought for it in the ’40s, secured it in the ’50s, constructed it in the ’60s and has enjoyed it ever since,” Womack said. “I’m duty bound to protect the sparkling jewel that it is.”
Dixon recalled a conversation with one of the many men who worked on the dam. A few people who had either worked on the dam or had family members who worked on it were in attendance.
To mix the concrete for Beaver Dam, Dixon said it was required to be kept at 40 degrees, which meant “using 400 pounds of ice flakes and blasted with cool air in the summer, the use of an 85-pound vibrator to pour it and the use of blow torches to warm pipes in the winter.”
Beaver Lake has 487 miles of shoreline, 31,700 surface acres and is the largest supplier of water for Northwest Arkansas, according to the corps’ website. Construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1966 to aid flood control, generate hydroelectric power, public water supply and recreation. Payments for the investment were made primarily from hydropower sales marketed through the Southwestern Power Administration.
The original construction, with interest, was $450 million, said Marshall Boyken of the Southwestern Power Administration. He tried to imagine Northwest Arkansas without Beaver Lake.
“If we had to replace the power that it generated over the last 50 years, it would cost $1 billion,” Boyken said. “It’s an effective resource.”
High school student Audrey Klug won an essay contest with her piece on Beaver Lake and read the essay to the gathered crowd.
Reading from an excerpt, she said, “Clean water means healthy people, which boosts the economy.”