JAMES H. BREWER LAKE
Brewer Lake, the city's primary water supply facility, has the capacity to provide the citizens of Conway with up to 16.5 million gallons of what has been deemed the "best drinking water" in the state. In fact, the story of the James H. Brewer Lake is a prime example of what can be done through cooperation between and dedication of various groups of citizenry and the United States government.
On October 16, 1961, the late Walter Scales, then general manager of Conway Corporation, wrote a letter to the U.S. Corps of Engineers advising that the Corps planned damming of the Arkansas River, under the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System of 1938, threatened to inundate the city's main water source at Cadron Creek. This, it was believed, would cause severe damage to the quality of the creek water. The project, which eventually became Toad Suck Ferry Lock and Dam No. 8, did, in fact, raise the river level and cause the river water to flow into the creek.
What followed were meetings followed by meetings, where proposals followed by counterproposals, were offered in an effort to remedy the problem. By December 1964, the Corps of Engineers had tentatively agreed to build a new weir on Cadron Creek. In 1969, the weir was constructed about 2 miles upstream from the Arkansas River in an attempt to keep the expensive-to-treat river water from backing into the creek. However, the weir's construction raised the water level in the creek, resulting in the growth of algae in the water supply. The water could still be made pure, but the algae tended to give the water an unsavory browntinge and bad taste.
James H. Brewer, by then Conway Corporation's manager, enlisted the aid of then U.S. Representative Wilbur Mills and Senator John McClellan. The result was Public Law 93-251, which contained a provision under Title 1-Section 10 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1974, allowing modification of the McClellan-Kerr Act. The city of Conway was to receive a new water supply impoundment to be constructed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers at federal expense so that the "resultant facility" was "approximately equal to that existing prior to construction of the navigation system". On March 7, 1974, the act was signed into law by then President Richard M. Nixon.
Site locations for the 1,165-acre lake then began in earnest. After consideration of several locations and a year long study conducted by the Dallas office of the Corps of Engineers the field was narrowed to five:
- East Fork Point Remove Creek, about 9 miles north of Morrilton;
- (a) Cypress Creek at mile 2.6, about 5 miles north of Menifee or
(b) Cypress Creek at mile 6.7, about 5 miles north of Plumerville and 10 miles northwest of Conway;
- North Fork Cadron Creek near the Conway-Faulkner County lines northeast of Morrilton;
- Cove Creek, a tributary to Cadron Creek, 13 miles north of the existing water treatment plant; and
- East Fork Cadron Creek about 10 miles northeast of Conway in Faulkner County.
When the Cypress Creek 6.7 mile site was, ultimately, selected, Conway city officials agreed to provide the Conway County water distribution district with up to 4 million gallons of water a day as an adjustment for their taxable properties that would be needed for construction of the project. The site necessitated the relocation of two county roads (71 and 71/76) and State Highway 92; the purchase of 2,456 acres of land in fee required for the lake and damsite, including a 300 ft. wide controlled zone around the lake, required by the Arkansas State Department of Health. An additional 81 acres were needed for the road relocations. (The area was to be opened to the public, and, eventually, in 1984, Ordinance 0-84-23 was passed allowing fishing and boating on the lake, but not water contact sports due to health department requirements.)
The project had been planned to include a (an):
- earthfill dam with a drop inlet service spillway to be constructed at mile 6.7 on Cypress Creek, north of Plumerville, in Conway County;
- limited service spillway, to be excavated in the right abutment to prevent overtopping of the dam in extreme rainfall (spillway was to be 235 feet long with a crest elevation of 339.5 feet above mean sea level);
- dam with a top elevation of 358 feet above mean sea level, (approximately 1,374 feet long with an average height of about 73 feet above the valley floor and a crown width of 20 feet);
- dike, 1,810 feet long, with a crown width of 10 feet;
- lake, covering about 1,165 acres, with a total storage of about 23,500 acre-feet (18,500 acre-feet would be available for Conway's water supply after reduction for sediment and dead storage).
Average depth at the top of the water supply pool would be 20.2 feet. Lake shoreline was estimated at 13 miles and would be able to collect a runoff from about 36 square miles of watershed.
Resolution 79-15 was passed on April 10, 1979, allowing the city of Conway to enter into a cooperative management agreement with the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission for the management of lands peripheral to the proposed Cypress Creek impoundment. The two agreed to conduct "joint and cooperative endeavors" in order to protect, not only, the water supply impoundment, but its fish and wildlife resources, as well. (It was expected that sportsmen would benefit greatly by the increased population of resident and migratory birds and animals through the Commission's manipulation of the habitat and protection and regulation of the reservoir's wildlife.)
On September 11, 1979, Resolution R-79-34 was passed, enabling then Mayor Bill Wright to sign on behalf of the city of Conway, an agreement between Conway and the United States of America Corps of Engineers. On September 21, Mayor Wright; Conway Corporation Chairman of the Board, Frank E. Robins, III; and Colonel Dale K. Randels, Corps of Engineers District Engineer Contract Officer signed Contract No. DACW03-79-C-0110, clearing the way for construction to begin. Bids were taken and awarded, and construction began under the supervision, and at the expense, of the Corps of Engineers.
Three years later, September 1982, the corps resident engineer had completed work at the project site, and water testing was about to begin. Two months later, in November, work on the interior lake bed was near completion and Conway was expecting to begin receiving water from the reservoir by mid '83. December, however, brought heavy rains, and the reservoir filled to within two feet of its normal pool level, causing problems for the clearing contractor. Three pieces of equipment were caught in the lake bed when the waters rose, and the reservoir had to be drained to rescue the equipment. Work was then stalled until the lake bottom could dry out.
But by March, 83% of the reservoir's land had been cleared, and army engineers closed the dam gate allowing the reservoir to begin filling with rainwater. Also completed was approximately 70,000 feet of pipeline from the reservoir to Conway's water treatment plant at Gleason. (Thirty-six inch pipe had been installed along a route approximately parallel with Cypress Creek and Cadron Creek channels in order to keep a gradient that would hold pumping costs to a minimum.) The relocating of county roads 71 and 71/76 remained, as did the construction of recreational access facilities.
By April, clearing was 91% complete with only 38 acres remaining, and in May testing was underway on the pumping equipment. And finally on July 11, 1983, water began pumping from the reservoir through a 13-mile transmission line to the city's water treatment facility at Gleason. In August, responsibility for operation and maintenance of the reservoir was transferred to Conway Corporation. The entire estimated cost of the project, according to Corps of Engineers figures, had come in at just under $30,000,000 ($29,766,100).
And on September 16, 1983, a crowd of between 400-500 gathered at Springfield for the dedication ceremonies. Political figures attending included: U.S. Representative Wilbur D. Mills, who was hailed as a major force behind the creation of the reservoir; U.S. Senators Dale Bumpers and David Pryor; U.S. Representative Ed Bethune; Governor Bill Clinton and Conway Mayor Bill Wright, who read the resolution officially naming the reservoir, the James H. Brewer Lake. The projects completion, said Wright, guaranteed the citizens of Conway the "assurance of a continued, ample source of clean water to sustain the quality of life and provide for the continued growth of our city".
Conway Corporation completed a project in November 2006 at Brewer Lake allowing more water to be captured at the lake. According to Conway Corporation CEO Richard Arnold, the construction raised the service outlet weir elevation by 4 feet, bringing the normal pool elevation to 330 feet msl. The weir controls the level of the lake; previously if the lake had reached 326 feet msl, the excess water would begin flowing over the weir and down Cypress Creek.