Mystery Solved Of Fosdic Lake Clearcut In Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park

Yesterday I blogged about seeing a large area of brush and trees cleared from under Fosdic Lake Dam at Oakland Lake Park. I was perplexed as to what the purpose was of such an effort.

I also mentioned a dead tree growing out of the dam, with a big red X supposedly marking it for extinction. The big red X has been on that tree for a long long time. I speculated that the tree is slated to be gone due to trees growing in levees and dams is not a good thing.

I'll get to more about the tree on the dam and its brothers and sisters in a blogging to follow this one.

Well, now, today we get a great example of how efficient the Internet works regarding getting answers to perplexing questions.

Fort Worth's #1 Watchdog, Don Young sent yesterday's blogging to a couple people who work for the city of Fort Worth's Parks Department.

Don Young's question regarding the blogging, asked "Any idea what this means? Looks like a pipeline easement to me."

To which Mark Woolsey replied...

Not to worry, Don, no pipelines. This is a planned effort by our staff in an effort to inspect the dam more clearly. We are working with the Stormwater Management Section of Transportation and Public Works, who keeps tabs on the condition of the various impoundments throughout the city. A proper inspection of the downstream toe of the dam is required, so the clearing is necessary to facilitate inspections, to see if there are any leaks, breaches, etc., and assess the overall condition of the dam.

If you notice, most of the work was done by hand, very painstakingly, not to disrupt more ground than necessary, only using equipment to remove the cut brush. As for the concrete forms, I am not sure what those are, but they were probably discarded by persons unknown years ago, and uncovered during the brush removal process.

The red “X” identifies the tree to the forestry crew for removal. Blogger is correct, a tree growing in the dam generally is not a healthy thing.

The thing with blogs is that they can raise unnecessary concern without the benefit of verification. This, in light of the blue flags issue at TH. An inquiry to our department can help to allay undue alarm (which is what you have done). I hope you feel led to pass this info on to the blogger – we’ll be glad to discuss our operations.

Thanks for your inquiry and concern.

Mark

Now, I take issue with the comment about "the thing with blogs is they can raise unnecessary concern without the benefit of verification. This, in light of the blue flags at TH (Tandy Hills)."

I don't believe I raised an unnecessary concern over a clearcut by a dam or when finding blue flags being stuck in the Tandy Hills Natural Area. It's called being curious. The venue by which that curiosity is expressed is this blog. And less than 24 hours later, I have an answer regarding what's being done to the greenery by the Fosdic Lake Dam.

Additionally, regarding raising concerns, Fort Worth is a town where a lot of things seem to happen without a lot of public input. And a lot of things go on that seem questionable, with no one doing any overseeing. Like I still don't know how a gas driller got permission to suck water from the Trinity River by Gateway Park, rutting up the Trinity River levee and making a big muddy mess.

Anyway, I'm glad to learn that the Fosdic Lake Dam is being checked for leaks.