| Show sportsmens SPORTS MENS DREAM OF YEARS COMES TRUE the me dike across navajo lake will be completed before the end of oe this week avid and assures a definite water level in the lake at all times which has been the only ob at stacle in tile the way ot of making tile tho lake one ot tile the finest fishing resorts not only in the state but in tho entire west the completion of this like dike makes a reality of a dream that has been in minds of at sportsmen and community boost era for a long time and marks marka tile the successful completion of another cooperative project undertake lin by cedar city people assisted by people from other communities and tills this project is of gigantic proportions both in ili public benefit and effort tor for its completion the seep holes in the east bast end of the lake have always made the supply of water in the lake an uncertainty that has stood in the way of proper development and sufficient planting of fish although in ili every other respect the lake la is ideal for a fishing paradise fish experts maintain that they know of no other lake lahe where food abounds as it does here and there Is no question as to the beauty tor for the setting which all adds to its attractiveness ti veness before the building of a dike was undertaken much heart breaking effort was expanded to plug the seep holes many were plugged and held satisfactorily satis facto efly but the wat water e r repeatedly bt broke oke out in other places the east end of the lake covers a large bed bad of lava rock and this Is covered about ten feet of sand and clay through which the water breaks through and escapes through tho the rocks in 1926 when the lake was so eo low that the water covered only the deep p part of the lake on the south side arthur fife evelyn parry john P miller fuller and heber C jensen visited the lake and the plan to build a dike across the deepest hannel channel of the lake was decided upon and sport sportsmen 8 men interested in conserving the water were appeal od ad to with the result that a group of them responded and a dike about feet long was con constructed st d by hauling gravel in wheelbarrows a 0 tusk task that looked hopeless at the beginning but which when completed gave inspiration for carrying the work on to its present stage of completion building that alke dike took fourteen days of strenuous effort this dike was about three feet high at each end and about nine feet high in the center where the water was deepest in 1930 the cedar fish and game protective organization with fred L biederman Ble derman as president undertook to construct the dike across the entire width of 0 the lake and this was constructed giving a dike three feet high from each side of tile the lake in 1931 the dike was waa raised another toot foot the same organ taking the lead in the project officials of the state fish and game came department seeing the feas of the project and appreciating the enthusiasm and determine yia howlL ax people gave some valuable assistance in both 1930 and 1931 during the winter of 1932 tha snow tall fall was exceptionally heavy and the supply of water increased so that the dike was covered until last winter when extra heavy frosts came and the resultant freezing ot at the small supply of at water killed thousands of fish and tills this spring the cedar city chamber of commerce backed by the fish and game protective association determined this to again balau the dike this time to a height that would give assurance that this would not re A concerted drive was started w with ith remarkable response from business and sportsmen alike and assistance from the state fish and game department was also promised and received after the woric had been carried forward by contri button the forest service was appealed to and through the efforts of james 10 gurr supervisor of the dixie national forest the forest officials agreed to take over the dike as a project with the result that it was successfully completed the dike was raised six feet this year and although still not up to high water mark it Is high enough to guarantee a water level that will cause great development of the lake as a resort the rho dike is approximately 2260 feet long about 18 feet wide at the hie top and 20 feet wide on the bottom the dike la is rip rapped on both sides with lava rook to protect it from the waves and from washing out when the lake Is high the work done this summer has necessitated the expenditure of iron co record |
