Thursday, May 17, 2007

Delaware Watershed District debates benefits of the Nebo State Fishing Lake

by Clarke Davis

The sign reads “Nebo State Fishing Lake” but there is a difference of opinion about that.

Photo by Clarke Davis

Delaware Watershed Board President Earl Stevens at Nebo State Lake. He thinks the district can do better financially by searching for a new tenant to lease the lake.

The lake and the land is owned by
the Delaware Watershed District, a taxing district extending into five counties on the upper reaches of
the Delaware River, and, until a few months ago, was leased to the
state Wildlife and Parks
Department. It is located just
south of Highway K-116 between Larkinburg and Holton.

Hunting and fishing are not the watershed’s purpose, but rather
land and water conservation, says
Earl Stevens, Valley Falls, president
of the watershed board.

He’s ready to look for another tenant that will provide greater benefit to the watershed district.

Stevens said there is no lease in effect with Wildlife and Parks and that the agency provides no funds to the district.

“They don’t fix a fence or conduct any maintaince on the dam,” Stevens said. “They mow around their restrooms and that’s about it.”

The board president is of the mind that the watershed could find a sportsman’s club or other private entity that would pay upwards of $20,000 to $30,000 a year to have an asset like that for its members.

With that kind of income, Stevens said the district could construct a small project, conduct maintenance, or save it up for a larger dam.

“We’re getting nothing now,” he said.

Stevens, who has spent a dozen years on the board, said opinions vary among the nine members and he’s not sure he’s in the majority. He’s only sure that the matter will be on the agenda, that comments to the watershed are welcome, and that the matter will be given a fair hearing.

Nebo consists of 38 acres nearly all of which is under water. It was constructed in 1964 and leased to what was then the Fish and Game Commission in 1965.

The watershed manager, Marilyn Snider, said the lease expired once before and it was a couple of years before anyone knew it. It expired again a few months ago and representatives from Wildlife and Parks were at the March meeting requesting a new lease.

The watershed board meets quarterly and will meet again at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 12, at the district office at 125 West 4th Street in Holton (south side of square).

The Delaware Watershed builds and helps maintain a number of dams throughout Nemaha, Jackson, Jefferson, and Atchison counties. Only one section of land in Brown County is included in the district.

It constructs some dam projects on its own while others it builds in conjuction with landowners, often with matching state or federal money when available.

“We haven’t had any federal money for a long time,” Snider said. She and watershed officials met with Congressman Nancy Boyda Saturday to apprise her of their needs.

A 2-mill levy throughout the district provides the watershed with an annual budget of about $95,000. It has currently built 129 dams since it was formed in 1956. The total number of dams projected is 499.

Nebo is a biblical mountain and a Babylonian god.