By PAUL LORENZ

paul.lorenz@mcleansborotimesleader.com

McLEANSBORO — The issue of water may be resurfacing in Hamilton County.

Robert Wilson, chairman of the board of Saline Valley Conservancy District, urged Hamilton County Board at its meeting last week to consider spearheading a project to build a lake in the county.

Board members listened and asked questions but took no stand — or official action — on the issue at the meeting Feb. 11.

Though Wilson mentioned more than one potential site for a lake, his presentation focused on Ten Mile Creek, which runs in a mostly east-west direction in an area south and west of McLeansboro.

A 1937 state water survey identified the Ten Mile Creek area as “a better place to build” a lake than the Rend Lake area, Wilson said. Eventually, of course, Rend Lake was built.

And in 1968, Saline Valley Conservancy District had preliminary plans drawn for a Ten Mile Lake, Wilson said.

“I think if we had had (an up-to-date) plan ready for a Ten Mile Lake ... we might have gotten some money from the stimulus for it,” he said, referring to the federal government’s funding of “shovel-ready” projects last year as part of its economic stimulus efforts.

A reliable water supply is a key factor in attracting many types of industry, Wilson said. And in that regard, Hamilton County is “bone dry,” he said.

“It rains about 44 inches in Hamilton County every year, and about 38 inches of it goes back up into the sky,” he said.

A proposed Ten Mile Lake would be about 2,000 acres — about one-fifth the size of Rend Lake, Wilson said. And because of its depth, Ten Mile Lake “would be cool all year long,” he said.

“There are places Ten Mile would be 50 feet deep, and this report shows an average of 18 feet deep,” he said.

The proposed site would affect “four or five homes” and necessitate raising a state highway in three different places, raising a township road and closing another township road, he said.

Saline Valley Conservancy District, which serves several southeastern Illinois communities, encompasses a multicounty area which includes “over half” of Hamilton County, Wilson said. And Ten Mile Creek is located in that area, he said.

But Saline Valley’s intent is not to operate a new lake, Wilson said.

“I think it would be grand if you guys ran the lake and we participated,” he said.

Wilson’s proposal isn’t the first time someone has suggested building a lake in Hamilton County. Saline Valley itself made such a proposal “several years ago,” Wilson said.

Most recently, in 2007, Dr. Donald Mitchell, Hamilton County Board chairman but acting as a private citizen, petitioned to form a conservancy district in order to build a lake and dam in northern Hamilton County.

The potential coal-mining operations proposed in the county and the new jobs they would offer were a major factor behind the petition, Mitchell said.

Mitchell withdrew the petition in early 2008 after opposition to the proposal surfaced, deciding that “the people of Hamilton County weren’t desirous of doing anything,” he said at the time.

Building a lake within Saline Valley’s Hamilton County territory “would fulfill our mission with regard to flood control,” Wilson said. “It would reduce flooding in southern Hamilton County.”

The real point, he said, is that “if anything is going to happen in Hamilton County from an industrial standpoint, they need to have water.”

Ultimately, it’s up to the county’s residents, Wilson said.

“And maybe it’s their choice to remain an agrarian-based economy,” he said.