The silt buildup on the floor of White Rock Lake has reduced the lake’s depth to a mere five feet in some places, making it nearly impossible for recreational activities such as fishing and boating.
Professional fisherman participating in a recent tournament at the lake complained about its high silt content, attempting to justify why so few fish were caught during the two-day affair.
But the anglers weren’t just making excuses. Ben Cernosek, senior engineer for the City’s Public Works and Transportation Department, is manager of the upcoming dredging project, which is scheduled to begin August 11. The $18 million project is expected to take two years and is designed to alleviate much of the lake’s silt buildup.
“The goal has been to save the lake from dying,” Cernosek says.
“It will be dredged to a minimum eight-foot depth, making it ideal for recreational purposes.”
The eight-foot depth also will keep the sun from penetrating to the bottom and fostering unwanted algae blooms, Cernosek says.
Silt removed from the lake will be pumped into a pipeline and shuttled to a private area in southern Dallas County 17 miles from White Rock.
While Cernosek says the dredging won’t cure the lake’s silt woes forever, he believes the experience gained from the project will make future lake maintenance and silt management more effective.
“The idea is to do the big dredging project and out of it, the City will obtain experience, knowledge and equipment,” Cernosek says.
“People can expect a lake that is more boatable, more fishable and much more recreationally enhanced.
“They can expect a lake that will not have any more environmental problems as far as siltation goes.”
