Cotter Spring Level

[RiverRunner]

I was up in Mountain Home on business on Wednesday and decided to stop by the ramp at Cotter and look at the river for a minute. I noticed that Cotter Spring seemed to have very little water comning out of it. I know that it is tied into Crooked Creek, but every time that I have seen it, it had a lot more water flowing out of it. Does the dry weather really affect it that much? Also, I remember that the AGFC turned it into a Dry Run Creek type of stream for kids, has it ever produced anything like Dry Run Creek has?

[John Berry]

Cotter's Big Spring recently underwent a major redo by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and believe it or not the flow was increased. The AG&F tapped into some local springs to increase the flow. It is spring fed and very much affected by the water table. We are in the middle of a drought. It is still the best place to cool off on a hot summer day. It was established as a catch and release area like Dry Run Creek. Unfortunately the very problems we are talking about erratic flows plus warmer water temperatures (Crooked Creek is a warm water stream)will never allow it to reach the level of Dry Run Creek which is sustained by all of the discharge of the National Fish hatchery.