Commissioners urge spillway improvements at Prairie Lake

With the water pool level at Banner Creek Reservoir down five feet below normal, the City of Holton should take a close look at protecting the concrete spillway at Prairie Lake in case the city should need to use that lake as an emergency supply of water.

That’s what Holton Mayor Tim Morris told fellow members of the Holton City Commission at the commission’s Tuesday, Feb. 20 meeting, noting that the city should look at grants and other sources of funding to protect Prairie Lake’s concrete spillway — and, therefore, the lake.

“It’s a big, big bite to chew,” Morris told commissioners. “It’s getting to a point where people don’t realize that it’s our second water supply.”

Morris directed Holton City Manager Teresa Riley to contact Lawrence-based grant writer Brett Waggoner of Governmental Assistance Services and “get the ball rolling” on seeking possibilities for grant funds to be used in repairing and maintaining the spillway at Prairie Lake.

Holton Water and Sewer Superintendent Dennis Ashcraft later said Prairie Lake’s concrete spillway “is in worse shape now than it was when that engineering was done on it,” noting that making repairs to the spillway is “a project that we’ve talked about, off and on, during budget season” in recent years, although little or no action has been taken to repair the spillway.

“We just haven’t had the funds to dive into that one yet,” Ashcraft said.

Prairie Lake, which served as the City of Holton’s main supply of water until the early 2000s, is currently designated as “an emergency backup supply,” according to Ashcraft, and if the city would have to go back to using it as a main water source, the city would also have to notify state officials that it was doing so. 

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