COLUMN: Bear Creek blues

Truth is, only a fraction of the controversy is legitimate. The rest is political and just plain silly.

Back when the lake was first planned, there was a component that in addition to drinking water, there would be some recreation use of the lake. Fishermen were excited.

But then Sept. 11, 2001 happened and the groups overseeing the reservoir went crazy. Fear of terrorism became pervasive; why someone might use Bear Creek for a terrorist attack!

So the bureaucrats bottled it up as if it sat in the middle of Manhattan. No fishing. No nothing.

Fear has ruled the lake until recently when the uppity-ups finally decided that maybe Al Quaeda wasn’t really interested in Bear Creek.

But of course, as with the messed-up “cash for clunkers” program, the bureaucrats couldn’t get it right. It’s taken years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and make access available.

Because the lake is inside Jackson County, it’s up to the county to set the ordinances and rules for access. Monday night, the county board of commissioners dithered and argued over who, how and when the evil public would have access to this liquid jewel. One commissioner voted “no” on a motion because he wanted 20-ft. boats allowed not just 18-ft. (I wonder how long his boat is?)

But commissioner Chas Hardy did get it right when he pointed out that the public’s limited access to weekends was nuts.

“It’s being protected like it’s Fort Knox,” Hardy said. “…I’m just befuddled.”

Me, too, Chas. Maybe the fish only bite on the weekends at the lake?

And then there’s the purported problem with area homeowners’ access to the lake. Some pretty sharp developers snapped up land around the lake and built subdivisions abutting the property. Apparently, some of the area’s homebuyers were led to believe their property actually abuts the lake, but it doesn’t. There’s a 150-ft. buffer around the lake where nothing is supposed to be located or cleared.

Some of the homeowners didn’t get that word — or ignored it — and have built various objects inside the buffer — some trees have been cleared, a few boat docks built, a cross and flagpoles erected, some electric light poles, a few boats parked near the water and other items. Others have just dragged a few chairs down by the water for an afternoon beer.

While some of that shouldn’t be there, much of it is relatively harmless.

But don’t tell that to some of the other counties involved in the reservoir. They’re having a fit for Jackson County to “enforce the rules” and make people move all their “stuff” out of the buffer zone.

My, my. That wouldn’t be political, now would it?

Of course it is. Jackson County has a major lawsuit filed against the other counties involved in the reservoir. Jackson argues that the amount of water the lake really yields is much lower than what was established when it was built. If Jackson County is correct, it means Athens-Clarke is taking more than its fair share of water. The other counties refused to have the yield recalculated, so Jackson sued them and they’re not happy.

That’s why they’ve goaded Jackson County on the buffer zone issue and, behind the scenes, helped stir up the boat access issue.

Here’s my take: If the counties that built the lake didn’t want anyone to ever see the lake or live close to it, they should have bought up all the land for a mile around it.

But they didn’t do that. They allowed nearby homes. Homeowners are human and human nature dictates that if you live within 150-ft. of a lake, you’re going to use it. People have experience with Corp lakes, which are also buffered, but which are fairly open for access. What else would you have expected people to do?

Certainly, if anyone is doing harm to the lake’s drinking water — erosion, silt, spraying chemicals, etc. — put a stop to it.

For other access, lighten up. Extremely limited access to fishermen and others is just going to encourage people to violate the rules by sneaking around through the woods and doing it anyway. If there are problems, toss’em out or have’em locked up.

The officials in charge of this reservoir need to remember it isn’t their lake, it was built by all our tax money. To expect people to act any other way is naïve.
As for the politics coming from the other counties demanding we do their bidding, Jackson County leaders should give this laconic reply: “Go jump in a lake!”

Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.