PROJECT AIMS TO KEEP HORSESHOE LAKE AFLOAT

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. -- Horseshoe Lake, a 1,965 acre, shallow water impoundment located alongside Route 3 about half way between Cape Girardeau and Cairo, Ill., is undergoing some changes, designed to stop the silt and sediment that is "filling up" the shallow lake.

Sediment and silt from nearby Black Creek and Pigeon Roost Creek have posed problems for the lake for more than a decade. The lake, with a 20-mile shoreline, is currently losing it capacity at he rate of about a half-inch per year, resulting in a major loss of fish habitat.

At this rate, the average depth of the lake -- now between three and four feet -- could dwindle to more dangerous proportions over the next two decades.

"We have a project ongoing, to halt the flow of silt into the lake, and to get a new stand of tupelo trees in the lake," said John Tranquilli, of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources regional office at Benton. "The flood of 1993 almost wiped out the tupelo tree population in the lake."

In past years, Horseshoe, with its large stands of tupelo, bald cypress and swamp cottonwood trees presented a spectacular scene around its 20 miles of shoreline.

The completion of the "Ecological Restoration Project," which started a few years ago, involves three projects:

• Establishing a 150-acre sediment basin which will catch waters from the two creeks which empty into the upper end of the lake, allowing only the filtered water into Horseshoe.
• Dredging the spill spillway area of the lakes, and establish a 45-acre spoil basil to rid that area of sediment.
• Drain and draw-down the Miller City arm of the lake and building some islands in efforts to reestablish cypress and tupelo trees.

The Department of Natural Resources is working with the U.S. Corp of Engineers in the project, with 65 percent federal and 35 percent state funding.

The two-year project is expected to cost about $4.5 million.

"We're past the ecological work, the archeological work and the endangered species work," said Tranquilli. "We're getting into the engineering part of the project now."

"Tranquilli has been a big help in this project," said Clayton Greenley, chairman of the Horseshoe Lake Task Force Committee, which has been keeping watch on the situation since the committee was formed in 1995.

The Natural Resources group and Corps of Engineers are currently looking at the project. The Corps of Engineers will be contacting landowners in the area to obtain rights-of-entry to do some survey work in the near future.

Greenley is urging all landowners in the area to cooperate with the survey teams, which will determine the "volume of water" rushing down the creeks into Horseshoe lake.

Although as much as 50 percent of the fishing activity has moved to other Southern Illinois sites over the past few years Lake of Egypt, Crab Orchard, Rend Lakes, Kinkaid creel studies show that angler usage, catch and harvest is still sizable for the shallow lake.

Angling pressure is still about 30 to 33 hours per surface acre.

Some of the decreased usage of the lake has been loss of fish habitat and the reduction in the amount of fishable areas.

"But a lot of fishermen still use the lake," said Greenley.

A deteriorating dam and spill area at the southeast end of the lake has resulted in a new look over the past 10 years. A new spillway has been instrumental in keeping the average level of the lake at about three to four feet, with the deepest part probable not much more than five or six feet.

Horseshoe Lake, which got its name from its horseshoe shape, is located near Olive Branch in Alexander County. The lake was formed during the 1811 New Madrid Earthquake.

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

The first dam, a log spillway structure , was built in 1929, when about 50 acres of land around the lake was acquired by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, then known as Illinois Department of Conservation.

A permanent concrete dam was constructed in 1939.

The lake area is home to as many as 200,000 Canada geese during the winter months.

Four picnic areas are located around the lake. The areas include picnic tables, park stoves and parking. A playground area is located near the spillway area.

B. Ray Owen may be reached at335-6611 ext. 133 or by e-mail at rowen@semissourian.com.