The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission has approved plans for the largest lake renovation in the agency’s 108-year history, a project that includes the construction of a new spillway system at Craig D. Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir.
The project calls for a new concrete weir, a low dam built to manage water levels, that will replace the aging metal gates currently in use at the 6,700-acre lake in central Arkansas.
Construction is expected to be completed by 2028.
Commission spokesman Randy Zellers said the total budget is not set. But for comparison, he noted that a recent renovation of Lake Poinsett cost $3.6 million, and that lake is only about 300 acres. Zellers said the project at Lake Conway, the first and largest ever lake constructed by the agency, is estimated to be about 3-4 times as expensive.
A majority of the project’s funding is expected to come from the agency’s general funds, but the agency is planning on applying for grants and pursuing cost-year opportunities with its partners.
The lake was constructed in 1948. It has an average depth of four-and-a-half feet and maximum depth of 16 feet.
But over time, silt and sediment build-up has reduced the lake’s depth. Engineers and biologists estimate that 33% of the lake’s original 40,000-acre-foot volume has been replaced with sediment during the last 75 years, leaving many boat houses in the northern quarter of the lake inaccessible.
An extended drawdown of the lake will let the silt dry and compact, regaining some lost depth for the lake.
As the renovation progresses, commissioners with the state wildlife agency plan to change harvest and length limits on Lake Conway to allow anglers to keep as many fish as they want before the lake is drained.
Once the spillways open, most of the remaining fish will exit the lake and enter the Arkansas River. This regulation is expected to pass at the commission’s July 20 meeting.
The agency also plans to conduct several infrastructure projects to increase boating and angling access, including renovations to existing boat lanes, boat launching facilities, bank angling accesses and fish attractor locations.
The first spillways will be opened on Sept. 1, said Zellers, with subsequent spillways being opened in November and December until the lake is drained.
Construction is set to begin in early 2024.
Contractors for the project will be recruited through a sealed bid process, Zellers said, with bids being sent out in the “near future.”
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