The water level has started dropping fairly rapidly in Lake Harrison since Tuesday morning, after a trench was opened on the south side of the weir and Crooked Creek was allowed to flow more freely.The trench opening is the latest step in a recovery effort for the bodies of a Harrison couple, John and Amy Villines, who were swept away in their vehicle in an apparent flash flood Nov. 30th on Highland Street in Harrison.The Harrison Daily Times reports it is believed the bodies of the couple would have washed down the tunnel system that drains into Lake Harrison. But after spending the majority of two weeks searching the lake and Crooked Creek downstream, very little evidence has been recovered.
The Harrison City Council voted to contract with Crouse Construction to completely drain the lake and begin dredging the creek bottom in hopes of finding some evidence of the couple.
A trench about five feet wide was opened Tuesday morning to allow the lake to drain more quickly than through just the two flood gates in the weir.
A berm of rock and soil was constructed basically parallel to the walkway below the weir. Mayor Dan Sherrell said the berm will help keep the downstream creek from being overwhelmed with water, but it is also being used as a kind of filter to catch anything the draining process might wash out.
Sherrell says draining began Tuesday morning and the water level in the lake had dropped about 18 inches or more by 3:00 Tuesday afternoon.
Sherrell has no estimate for how long the process could take, largely because water is still flowing into the creek from upstream springs that normally feed the creek.
And with more rain in the forecast, the entire process could take even longer. Heavy rain south of Harrison would begin to fill the lake again even if theres not much precipitation in town.
The city has in the past used Crouse Construction to clean out the lake, but this will be a different project once the lake level drops sufficiently. Sherrell expected to see progress by Wednesday morning.
Simply draining the lake and removing debris and silt that forms over a few years requires far less caution. They had been able to put heavy equipment into the creek bed and dig reasonably quickly.
In this case, they will be looking for possible human remains and that will take far more care.
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