Little Rock Lake Drawdown Ending

RICE -- The drawdown on Little Rock Lake and part of the Mississippi River is coming to an end this weekend. DNR Fisheries Manager Eric Altena says Eagle Creek will start closing the dam slowly starting Saturday.

So it will be at full pool elevation by the end of the day on Sunday on the river, now the lake is going to take a little bit longer because we have this narrow channel, so it might be up to a week more before the lake finally gets to full capacity again.

Altena says Little Rock Lake actually went down 2.7 feet during the six-week drawdown.

Altena says the cool wet weather we've had over the past several weeks wasn't great for plant growth, but he says the true test will be what the lake looks like next August.

To see what we get for submerged vegetation, to see what we get for emergent vegetation, the plants that we put in are doing phenomenal, some of the other stuff should come up again as long as the water quality is there, so that's the big test.

Some of the junk found at the bottom of the lake included a gravestone, snowmobile, snowmobile frame and a lot of old tires, but Altena says there wasn't as much garbage as some were expecting.

The DNR worked with several other local organizations on the planned drawdown in an effort to improve the water quality of the lake.