Bonito Lake 'ruined': Flooding dumps ash, silt into water source

Once a fishing and camping retreat among cool Ponderosa pines, Bonito Lake today is filled with silt and ash from the Little Bear Fire and is no longer viable as a drinking water source for the city of Alamogordo. The odor of charred trees and rotting fish permeates the air. "The lake is ruined," Justin King said. "It will take several years of major dredging to correct this. It's holding more than 40 feet of silt." Crews working around the lake are focusing on keeping the level below the spillway to prevent more damage downstream, he said Tuesday during a multiple agency morning briefing. "We have three pumps working the lake now, moving 10,000 gallons per minute, but we're unable to keep up with the inflow," King said. Two more pumps will be installed by Wednesday to increase the pumpage to 20,000 gpm, he said. Pipelines removing the water, silt and ash are being run down the spillway and along the roadsides. While the fire that approached the lake stayed mostly on the ground, reaching only one area of the canopy, it devastated the drainages and canyons leading into the lake. People who have no business on Bonito Lake Road or in the recreation areas run by the city at West Lake or the U.S. Forest Service at South Fork should stay out. Heavy equipment is operating, many workers will be on foot and the road is down to one lane. "Drivers should have their headlights on and not exceed 15 mph," Scott said...more

Another example of the enviros and the courts controlling federal land management.