The resource manager for Lake Cumberland said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is meeting Monday with contractors about extending boat-launching ramps into the water.
Craig Shoe, speaking to a luncheon meeting of the Somerset Kiwanis Club, remarked: “I hope we’ve got work going in a week and a half or two weeks (on extending boat ramps).” He said the contractors will be told “If you can’t go to work soon, don’t bid.”
The ramps are out of the water because the lake level is scheduled to reach 680 feet above sea level, or 43 feet below the tree line, on Monday and remain at that level throughout this year. The water has been lowered to ease pressure on Wolf Creek Dam, classified by the Corps as a “high risk” of failure.
Shoe said only two of the 48 improved ramps on the lake are usable for boat launching. These are at Grider Hill and Jamestown marinas, he noted. An improve ramp is one with at least 10 parking spaces.
According to Shoe, the Corps now has money to improve accessibility to the lake. The Corps is authorized to extend ramps at 10 marinas and four Corps sites on the lake. Ramps owned by counties and the state, like the ramp at General Burnside Island State Park, are not included in the Corps’ improvement authority.
“Our biggest goal is to get ramps in the water,” said Shoe. However, despite the promised effort, Shoe estimated that the lake will have 35-40 percent less access this summer.
Shoe called “staggering” the impact Lake Cumberland has on the Cumberland River system.
“Fifty percent of the water that goes through Nashville in the summer comes from Lake Cumberland,” Shoe noted. He said keeping Lake Cumberland at a low level will impact operations at other dams on the Cumberland River.
Shoe detailed for the Kiwanians the condition of the 55-year-old dam that resulted in the decision to lower the lake and rehabilitate the earthen and concrete structure. He said technology in the 1930s and 1940s when Wolf Creek Dam was built was not what it is today. The dam was built on limestone rock with caves and crevices. This apparently is allowing water to seep through and beneath the structure.
Leaks, reportedly much more severe than now, were discovered in the dam during the late 1960s. A concrete diaphragm was extended into the dam and 25 feet into the bedrock. It solved the leaking problem for several years but pressure reading gauges and wet spots indicate the problem has returned.
The Corps in August 2005 announced a $309 million rehabilitation of the dam that is expected to take seven years. A new diaphragm, much longer and deeper, will be inserted into the dam.
Shoe said all options, including building a new dam were considered before deciding on the second diaphragm. A new dam apparently not feasible because of cost and time involved.
“I think most people in the Corps are confident that (Wolf Creek Dam) will be there long enough for us to fix it,” Shoe concluded.
Local News
Related Photos
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A sharp-eyed observer spotted this boat sitting on muddy land near Pulaski County Park. The water level of Lake Cumberland is currently being lowered to ease pressure on Wolf Creek Dam and is expected to reach 680 feet above sea level on Monday, leading to sights like the one above becoming more likely to be seen around the lake. Photo by Kathy Snell
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Craig Shoe, resource manager for Lake Cumberland, tells the Somerset Kiwanis Club that the Corps is meeting Monday with contractors about extending boat ramps into the water. The level of the lake has been lowered because of seepage problems at Wolf Creek Dam. Bill Mardis photo
The Lowdown on Lake Cumberland
Plans underway to extend some boat ramps
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Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
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The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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The message is clear: There are heroes. Even here in our own hometowns.
That’s the idea organizers hope to get across Saturday night at Somerset Christian School, when Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meter speaks to all who choose to attend.
For further questions, ticket purchases, and sponsorship opportunities please contact Susan Adams at (606) 875-0255. -
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Rob McCullough, 50, who started working in a newspaper mailroom when he was 15, officially assumes his duties today. He succeeds Jack McNeely who has accepted a position with the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama.
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