Water levels on Henderson Lake could soon be back on the rise.
The annual drawdown is now over, ending November 1.
KATC went to Henderson to check out the conditions of the lake.
Mayor of Henderson Sherbin Collette says the dryness of the Lake is intentional.
“What we’re doing is exposing the flats area, as much as we can to expose the hydrilla, because the hydrilla regerminates in September and October. Now if you have the water levels low at the time it can regerminate. So we keep it under control but as of now we’re doing a great job.”
During this process, the gates are opened that draw water from the Atchafalaya Lake into the Atchafalaya River. However, the river levels have to be just right.
“To draw it down like that the river levels have to be in our favor. The river levels have to be lower than the lake. So we can actually have a place to draw it down to,” Collette said.
"This year you couldn't ask for a better year to do it because it's a record-low year,” he added.
Where the swamp receded, cracks almost an inch and a half to two inches remain.
General manager of Magee's Louisiana Swamp and Airboat tours, Katrina Collette says the drawdown could reveal hidden treasures.
"Even places where the alligators are burrowed in during the winter time, and even sunken boats out there and you can see where the water’s drained out,” Katrina said.
Including tires, oyster shells, and all sorts of things left behind.
But despite the dry lake’s aesthetic, Katrina says this could also be great for tourism as well.
“Scouts come from all of the country and they’ll canoe, through the 60 miles. This year when they came out in June they had to reroute because the hydrilla and water hyacinth were blocking their path along the way so this will really help us,” Katrina said.
Although Collette says the sight of the basin is jarring, it doesn’t look how it used to look decades ago.
"Can we make it as good as it was when I was young? I doubt it. Because a lot of it has been damaged by oil field canals and it's detrimental to the whole entire basin to tell you the truth,” Colette said.
Collette says he has a plan to open more gaps through the basin where water could flow through, making the water quality healthier for wildlife and fish.
“At a certain amount of water, out of four miles wide, a quarter of a mile of water flowing through it [pipeline] which is detrimental to the lake, what happens is the sides will actually become rotten. It’s not flowing it’s just dead water. No oxygen nothing can live in it. And the fish cannot spawn in it. If the fish spawn, the eggs won’t survive and hatch. So by doing this, a dixie pipeline, create more gaps where the water can flow through and you’ll have less stagnant water and it’ll be more productive for the fish,” Colette added.
However, Collette says it could be several years before the project's completion.
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