LAST DAY FOR COMMENTS - 3/20 Stop the Bentoville dam project
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 4:07 pm
We are planning to send the below letter (with a some possible edits) to the Mayor of Bentonville and the Bentonville City Council. To show them there is significant interest in this issue and that we are serious, we would like to include as many email addresses as possible with this letter when we send it. If you have friends who are not members but want to be included, send me their emails as well. The more the better.
If you are willing to have your email address copied on this letter, you can email it to me at gregmvanhorn@gmail.com or you can post it on this thread or you can call me.
These creeks are the places we love for recreation and rejuvenation. If we remain silent, the "great indoorsmen" will build this dam. Let's let them know that we are many, we are strong and we don't want their dam!
I'll post the number of people as we gather the addresses.
Mayor & Council,
As you may know, the Lake Bella Vista dam is classified as a "failed" dam by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, listing the cause of failure as "faulty material and hydrologic deficiencies." The dam is currently leaking from at least three places. At this time, water can be seen flowing through the earthen dam and coming out of the back of the dam. Earthen dams can become saturated causing structural deficiencies to develop which could pose a threat to the community. For this and other valuable reasons mentioned below, we believe the time is now for the City of Bentonville to begin serious deliberations about removing this dam and restoring our beautiful Ozark waterway, Little Sugar Creek.
We are a coalition of serious-minded people who are concerned about the rapid disappearance of many Ozark streams that have been the source of pleasure and sustenance for us all. We would like to state here that we intend to work for the preservation of this natural resource which is an important part of our Ozark natural history and our largest watershed in this part of Benton County.
We believe the City's current plan of continuing to wait for FEMA to fund the re-construction of an unnecessary six hundred foot long dam across a valley which is not more than thirteen hundred feet wide is risky, fosters unreasonable development and will only cause further damage to our watershed. Upon your reply, we will forward your response to our supporters and work tirelessly to save our creek.
The removal of the Lake Bella Vista dam and the restoration of Little Sugar Creek offer an opportunity for a convenient recreational resource for those that enjoy water recreation such as; canoeing, kayaking, float-fishing, swimming or just relaxing by a flowing stream. Today, canoeing and kayaking are among the fastest growing recreational activities in America. In addition to the benefits associated with restoring our natural Ozark waterway, river restoration offers great economic potential as well. We believe that once Little Sugar Creek is allowed to flow freely, the creek and park will become a destination and people will seek out this living, moving waterway.
The creation of a reservoir with warm, silted waters will preclude water activities. As such, Bentonville ordinance currently prohibits swimming in Lake Bella Vista and most would agree that such recreation would be ill-advised and unhealthy. There are many reservoirs in Northwest Arkansas, but there are few flowing waterways remaining which have not been dammed. We believe that re-damming Little Sugar Creek will eliminate most recreational activities, except for perhaps paddle boating fans for whom too much has already been done.
We do not wish to promote useless arguments, but will wish to present valid and sensible reasons for the objectives we have in mind, and if what we have to say may be contrary to what you may propose, we do not mean it disrespectfully. We, in turn, ask you give us your respect and consideration for this proposal. We understand that there are differing points of view on this issue, which is all the more reason to give our democratic process an opportunity to work.
For the natural alternative to dam construction,
Greg Van Horn
Cc: Dr. Van Brahana, Dr. Arthur Brown, Debbie Doss and so many other caring souls.
"To drown a river beneath its own impounded water, by damming, is to kill what it was and to settle for something else. When the damming happens without good reason . . . then it's a tragedy of diminishment for the whole planet, a loss of one more wild thing, leaving Earth just a little flatter and tamer and simpler and uglier than before." — David Quammen, The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water
There's a river somewhere that flows through the lives of everyone. — Roberta Flack
If you are willing to have your email address copied on this letter, you can email it to me at gregmvanhorn@gmail.com or you can post it on this thread or you can call me.
These creeks are the places we love for recreation and rejuvenation. If we remain silent, the "great indoorsmen" will build this dam. Let's let them know that we are many, we are strong and we don't want their dam!
I'll post the number of people as we gather the addresses.
Mayor & Council,
As you may know, the Lake Bella Vista dam is classified as a "failed" dam by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, listing the cause of failure as "faulty material and hydrologic deficiencies." The dam is currently leaking from at least three places. At this time, water can be seen flowing through the earthen dam and coming out of the back of the dam. Earthen dams can become saturated causing structural deficiencies to develop which could pose a threat to the community. For this and other valuable reasons mentioned below, we believe the time is now for the City of Bentonville to begin serious deliberations about removing this dam and restoring our beautiful Ozark waterway, Little Sugar Creek.
We are a coalition of serious-minded people who are concerned about the rapid disappearance of many Ozark streams that have been the source of pleasure and sustenance for us all. We would like to state here that we intend to work for the preservation of this natural resource which is an important part of our Ozark natural history and our largest watershed in this part of Benton County.
We believe the City's current plan of continuing to wait for FEMA to fund the re-construction of an unnecessary six hundred foot long dam across a valley which is not more than thirteen hundred feet wide is risky, fosters unreasonable development and will only cause further damage to our watershed. Upon your reply, we will forward your response to our supporters and work tirelessly to save our creek.
The removal of the Lake Bella Vista dam and the restoration of Little Sugar Creek offer an opportunity for a convenient recreational resource for those that enjoy water recreation such as; canoeing, kayaking, float-fishing, swimming or just relaxing by a flowing stream. Today, canoeing and kayaking are among the fastest growing recreational activities in America. In addition to the benefits associated with restoring our natural Ozark waterway, river restoration offers great economic potential as well. We believe that once Little Sugar Creek is allowed to flow freely, the creek and park will become a destination and people will seek out this living, moving waterway.
The creation of a reservoir with warm, silted waters will preclude water activities. As such, Bentonville ordinance currently prohibits swimming in Lake Bella Vista and most would agree that such recreation would be ill-advised and unhealthy. There are many reservoirs in Northwest Arkansas, but there are few flowing waterways remaining which have not been dammed. We believe that re-damming Little Sugar Creek will eliminate most recreational activities, except for perhaps paddle boating fans for whom too much has already been done.
We do not wish to promote useless arguments, but will wish to present valid and sensible reasons for the objectives we have in mind, and if what we have to say may be contrary to what you may propose, we do not mean it disrespectfully. We, in turn, ask you give us your respect and consideration for this proposal. We understand that there are differing points of view on this issue, which is all the more reason to give our democratic process an opportunity to work.
For the natural alternative to dam construction,
Greg Van Horn
Cc: Dr. Van Brahana, Dr. Arthur Brown, Debbie Doss and so many other caring souls.
"To drown a river beneath its own impounded water, by damming, is to kill what it was and to settle for something else. When the damming happens without good reason . . . then it's a tragedy of diminishment for the whole planet, a loss of one more wild thing, leaving Earth just a little flatter and tamer and simpler and uglier than before." — David Quammen, The Gift of Rivers: True Stories of Life on the Water
There's a river somewhere that flows through the lives of everyone. — Roberta Flack