A PLAN: WATER FOR THE LAKE

Jerry P. Combs Lake near Kennett has all the facilities a fishing lake needs: a dock and concrete boat ramp, parking lots and even an overlook. But it doesn't have any water.

The Missouri Department of Conservation, which built the lake for $5 million and named it after former conservation commissioner Combs, plans to spend another $1.1 million in hopes of fixing the leak. Construction crews have begun compacting a clay liner on the bottom of the 150-acre lake hoping it will solve the problem. The repairs are expected to be completed about November.

The real test will then come when the department starts filling it again.

Because the land is in flat floodplain, the lake, which was dedicated in 1996, was built above ground. It is formed by levees and filled by pumping ground water.

The engineering firm didn't realize sand-filled cracks in the land left by the earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 existed. The water is draining through the cracks.

Those who are used to the hills, creeks and rivers of the northern parts of Southeast Missouri and the areas that are natural places for lakes may not relate to the problems with building lakes in the flat sandy soil of the Bootheel.

Hopefully, the plan to fix the leak will be successful. There are, after all, no other manmade lakes in the Bootheel for fishermen.