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City crews save approximately $7,000 on Dogtown Lake project<br>

Pictured is one of the two intake valves the city’s water crews raised in an effort to cut down on the amount of damaging debris brought into Williams’ water treatment plant from the bottom of Dogtown Lake. Water department crews were able to save the city a substantial amount of money by using pre-existing material

Also, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has been interested in getting the lake drained to kill off what it calls “garbage fish.” This includes illegally introduced black crappie and green sunfish.

“The lake was drained back in 1996, but because of snowfall, the level never went low enough to kill everything off,” says Chuck Benedict of the AGFD office in Flagstaff. “This time, since the city is doing it anyway, we’re going to try it again.”

At the same time, Williams water department supervisor Ron Stilwell needed to raise the level of the pipelines’ intake valves on the lake side of the dam. Too much damaging sludge and debris from the bottom of the lake was getting into the filters and pumps at the city’s potable water treatment plant.

Originally, the cost of the project was estimated at about $12,000. However, Stilwell and his crew located two used-but-usable valves for the ADEQ’s emergency valve request, and used other existing material to install the emergency valves while also raising the intake level an additional four to five feet. Due to their efforts, Stilwell and his crew saved the city approximately $7,000, cutting the cost of the project down to between $4,000-$5,000. They also saved the city an undeterminable amount in repairs and equipment by reducing the amount of harmful debris and sludge pulled into the treatment plant from the bottom of the lake.

As of March 8, AGFD officials have not yet been able to confirm whether or not the draining was effective in killing off the lake’s resident “garbage fish.”

Campground renovations

While the city has done work on Dogtown Lake, the Forest Service has been renovating the Dogtown Lake campground area in a project funded solely by the Forest Service.

Nearly $1.5 million has been spent on campground improvements, including a $600,000 upgrade for the lake’s access road.

Other improvements involve a realigning of the roads within the campground, redefining the campsites while increasing their number to accommodate more visitors, and adding more picnic tables, fire rings, and parking spaces.

Recreation Forester Deirdre McLaughlin, of the Williams Ranger District, says the Forest Service is especially proud of some of the more striking improvements, such as expanding the area around the group camping ramada and adding a natural stone free-standing fireplace. Picnic tables once located in the middle of the parking area have now been moved to a peninsula closer to the lake for better views, but McLaughlin stresses that the campground’s unpaved, outdoor look remains the same.

“We have maintained the character of the campground throughout our improvements,” McLaughlin explains. “We have this very rustic looking facility — you still feel like you’re out in the woods even though you’re in a developed facility.”

Forest Service officials report that once weather permits, only two weeks worth of construction and landscaping touch-ups are needed to complete the renovations. McLaughlin is positive the campground will be open this year as the facility is scheduled for a May 15 reopening, and adds that the Forest Service is planning a May 21 dedication ceremony and an open-house event the following day.


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