Meramec Dam Project

[Al Agnew]

Too many people, too much technology, too little regard for the value of the resource. Doesn't matter if it's a river or a lake. There was a time when I wanted to be on the Meramec any day of the week, any month of the year. Now I avoid it like the plague on warm weather weekends, and don't go all that often during the week in the summer. But during the cool to cold weather months, there's still few places I'd rather be.

[cart7]

Quality fishing water OR quality lakes??? There is a ton of quality fishing water within an hours drive or so of StL. It just may not be impounded.

A ton of quality water? You're grossly over exaggerating even if you're talking about rivers. And yes, I was talking about impounded waters.

[cart7]

I agree...good fishing water doesn't have to be still water.

Impounding the Meramec wouldn't have made a quality lake either. You think that the 40' cruisers make big waves on LOZ, they would have been that much worse on a much smaller body of water that the Meramec Park lake would have been.

Biggest part of the reason LOZ is loaded with giant boats is the lake was built and owned by UE and they sold the land right to the waters edge to whomever wanted to buy it. Hence you have massive development on the bulk of that lake and absolutely no control over the number of boat docks, marina's or anything else that goes on there.

COE lakes are a little different. I know Table Rock has gotten bad over the years, due mostly to the corps relaxing development rules on that lake, but I doubt you'd see the big boats on a lake closer to ST Louis like you see at LOZ. It just isn't really feasible to tow a 38' Fountain back and forth to the lake every weekend and deal with launching and loading it.

I have a feeling had that Union lake and one of the larger lakes been built on the Big river we'd have a couple of nice lakes used mostly by fisherment in the spring and fall and only have to share it with recreational boaters during the summer.

[Al Agnew]

The Big River lake (Pine Ford dam) became a non-starter when everybody realized that the lead and other heavy metals contaminating the river from the old lead mines on the upper portion would have settled in the reservoir sediments and become a real health problem, both from eating the fish and with the water supply which was a large part of the justification for the lake. The Union lake couldn't fly because of MDC's study, which showed the area to be flooded was, at the time, extremely valuable wildlife and fish habitat.

Keep in mind, too, that neither of those lakes would have been all that big. I think the recreation pool of each would have been something like 7 or 8 thousand acres.

The whole Meramec Basin project just about had to have all the lakes built (the Meramec Dam, Union on the Bourbeuse, Pine Ford and Irondale on Big River, though possibly the Irondale dam could have been sacrificed) in order to work. The first main justification was flood control for the St. Louis area, and you needed dams on all three major streams for that to work, since each of the three is capable of running a LOT of water. Second main justification, water supply, could have worked with the Union dam or the Meramec dam, but not the Big River dam. Third main justification, recreation, needed all three to spread the use around, because any one of the lakes would have been way overused. Fourth main justification, economic development, was suspect simply because the lakes would have been TOO close to St. Louis. Unlike the Branson area lakes, which became part of a huge tourist destination where people almost had to come, spend more than one day, bring the whole family, and spend a lot of money in the area, the Meramec Basin lakes would have been used more by people driving down for the day, recreating, and driving home, without spending much money in the area.

[scottlambing]

I have a book from the 1940's that came from the school of mines in rolla , showing where and how high and low the water levels were going to be, how many familys and farms would be "relocated". This book was on it's way to the furnace when I got it

[ozark trout fisher]

When I saw a recent post in a thread called "Meramec Dam Project"....I figured it was regarding the one from years ago, but I can't say my heart didn't skip a beat.