Bella Vista Dam Doesn't Make Sense

[greg vanhorn]

This thought provoking editorial appeared in last Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Enjoy!

[Canoe_Codger]

I doesn't make sense to me that this dam is still even an issue given it's condition and the fact that the stagnant "lagoon" behind it is verbotten for public use because of health / water quality issues. Not to mention the possiblility of catastrophic failure of the structure itself. I wonder what an engineering study of the effects of dam failure would show? Is there a local FD/PD/EMT disaster plan in place to evacuate threatened structures/property below the dam? Do the threatened homeowners or business owners realize the danger? Or is the general attitude that the dam and lagoon have always been there and will always be there, it just "is"? Catastrophic dam failure, even with a relatively low head dam is not something to be ignored, IMHO. The best time to contend with a disaster is before it occurs. Not to mention missing a golden opportunity to improve the park as a local attraction, and make a visible statement for improvement of stream ecology.

Michael