Neil

Davis hastily rigged a pump on the lower side of

the dam next to Olde Mill Steakhouse Friday and

began pumping water back to the upper side.

Butch

Metcalf, who is building a home in Crystal Lakes

subdivision near the restaurant and dam, watched

from the restaurant's deck and shook his head.

"Maybe that'll at least get some aerated

water up there and save some of the fish,"

he said.

It

was too late. Davis and wife, Kay, spent much of

Saturday dragging dozens of dead fish, most

weighing five pounds or more, out of what little

water remains at the dam.

Residents

of Crystal Lakes could do nothing but watch as

their boats and docks settled onto the lake's mud

bottom as the water dried up.

This

week, state Department of Natural Resources

officials believe they have solved the mystery of

why Lake Bennett, the scenic lake nestled among

homes in the Crystal Lakes neighborhood on Ga.

Highway 54, suddenly dried up last week. A new

culvert that ushers Sandy Creek under Sandy Creek

Road and into the lake is higher than the old

one, said fisheries technician Paul Jones,

holding back the already drought-reduced flow of

the creek. But county public works director Lee

Hearn disagrees. (see related story)

The

lake is important to the city of Fayetteville's

drinking water needs. Whitewater Creek, along

with Sandy Creek and some smaller tributaries,

runs into Lake Bennett and out again as it flows

over the scenic dam at Olde Mill restaurant,

owned by the Davises. The city draws 700,000

gallons of water a day out of the creek below the

dam, but last week shut down its intake and water

treatment plant because water levels in the creek

dropped too low.

The

city will buy water from Fayette County until it

can start up the plant again.

The

dam was built around 1837, according to the

Davises, and consists mainly of stacked rock

filled with concrete. After all this time, the

dam leaks, but Kay Davis said she can't believe

that the leaks in the bottom of the dam could

have caused the lake to run dry.

"Water

seeps out there, but it always has," she

said. The lake has weathered much worse droughts

than this without running dry, she added.

"It doesn't seep anymore now than it ever

has," she said.

Fayette

County's Lee Hearn said it's possible the leaks

have worsened in recent months, accounting for

the rapid drop of the lake.

"I

never thought it would get that low that

quick," Neil Davis told Metcalf as he worked

to set up the pump last Friday.

Davis

said he may try to repair the leaks in the dam

now that the water level is low enough to allow

access to the lower levels.

But,

said Mrs. Davis, repairing the dam won't help if

water doesn't start coming into the lake. DNR's

Jones said the only thing that's going to restore

water levels in the lake is rain.

Meanwhile,

it will be a long time before Lake Bennett has

any large fish in it, and fish below the dam also

are showing signs of distress as the creek level

drops.

"We're

just sick about it," said Mrs. Davis.

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