HORSESHOE LAKE MAY GET NEW DAM

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Plans for a new Horseshoe Lake dam and spillway area have been unveiled.

"Basically the new dam will have the same crest elevation as the one it will replace," said Dick Adorjan, a spokesman for the Water Resources Division of the Illinois Department of Transportation Tuesday.

The new structure will also have two 4 x 5 foot sliding gates which will enable better management of the lake.

"The present dam does not have the gates," said Adorjan. "The plans also calls for additional concrete work at the spillway area.

"We don't have a timetable for the project," he added.

A new dam and spillway area have been under discussion the past three years, following a design study of dams by an engineering firm. The Illinois Department of transportation filed an application for the dam modifications last week with the Division of Resource.

"The Water Resource Division's role in the project is to take bids for construction," said Adorjan, who added that additional information concerning the work was available to interested parties by writing, Division of Water Resources, Bureau of Resource Management, 3215 Executive Park Drive, Room 404, Springfield, Ill. 62973, before Aug. 5.

"The plans also call for a 40-foot timber-deck pedestrian bridge to be located down-stream from the dam," said Adjoran. The dam is located at the southeast end of the lake, near the Promised Land Road.

Horseshoe, which got its name from its horseshoe shape, is located near Olive Branch in Alexander County. The 2,400-acre lake is a shallow water impoundment with a 20-mile shoreline.

The lake, which has a maximum depth of about six feet, is a favorite fishing spot for many anglers, and is a home to wintering Canada Geese.

With as many as 200,000 wild geese flocking into the area each winter, the Horseshoe Lake Wildlife Refuge has been called "Goose Hunting Capital of the World."

The waterfowl and bald eagle populations during the fall and winter months attract visitors form all over the world.

The area receives heavy use by picnickers and campers. The natural setting of the lake is reminiscent of the deep south and is dominated by bald cypress, tupelo gum and swamp cottonwood trees which border the lake.

Before an old log dam was constructed in 1930, the lake area was known to "dry up" during the summer months of July land August.

The first dam a log spillway structure was built in 1929 when the lake and about 50 acres of land around the lake was acquired by the Department of Conservation. A permanent concrete dam was constructed about 10 years later, causing the lake to fluctuate slightly.