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Photo by Christopher Lugo/Staff The estimated price tag for phase one of the dredging is $450,000. The total cost of the project is roughly $4.2 million.
Sedimentation has been causing problems for decades in Mirror Lake.
The Mirror Lake Improvement Association hopes that 2022 is the year that trend comes to an end.
Mirror Lake Improvement Association member Pat Gleeson unveiled the group’s plans to restore the lake to its previous luster during the Highlands Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday night. The group is hoping the town will lend a hand in the project by seeking out and potentially applying for state and federal grant money to help cover the cost.
“What we are looking at is a three-phase dredging plan, and we feel like this is our last, best chance to save the lake,” Gleeson said. “We have reached out to River Sand Incorporated and they have helped us put this plan together. Phase one would dredge a 250-foot swath both upstream and downstream from the (Mirror Lake Road) bridge.”
Gleeson added that phase two of the plan would continue upstream along Cullasaja Drive and widen the channel to 11 feet wide and four feet deep. Phase three would return to the boundaries of phase one and continue the dredging downstream.
Dredging any lake comes with both physical and financial hurdles.
Gleeson noted that the first phase of the dredging would be “dredge and haul,” meaning the sediment would be scooped out by an excavator, loaded into specially engineered dump trucks and moved to an offsite location. The second phase of the plan would be “vacuum dredging,” in which the sediment is sucked out of the lake and relocated to a collection area via a long pipe.
The estimated price tag for phase one of the dredging is $450,000. The total cost of the project is roughly $4.2 million, according to Gleeson. While the association is raising funds to support the project, there is a possibility that the town as a municipality may be eligible for state and federal grant funding that the association is not.
“We have started raising the money and we have plans to step up our fundraising efforts,” Gleeson said. “We realize that this project isn’t going to happen overnight. But we wanted to come to the town, let the board know what we are doing, and see if there are any ways we can partner in the future.”
Mayor Patrick Taylor recalled that dredging the lake has been discussed may times over the past 30 years. He added that the health of the lake and the sustainability of the watershed are important not only to the Mirror Lake Improvement Association, but to the town, as well.
“I know at one point many years ago, one group was within one or two signatures of making a similar project happen,” Taylor said. “Mirror Lake is an asset and anything we can do to protect it is something we should consider.”
Gleeson noted that his group has already been in contact with the Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District as well as other nonprofit organizations searching for ways to collaborate. In order to be allowed to dredge the lake, work must be permitted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
For more information about the Mirror Lake Improvement Association, the effort to restore the lake, or to donate, visit gofundme.com and search “Save Mirror Lake.”
- By Ryan Hanchett