By Dan Groebner

Aerial photos by Vulture View Video

The first question people ponder when they visit Woodland Lake Park has to be: Where did all the water go? Some pretty intense monsoon storms have finally rolled through our area, but their short durations and small coverage have not contributed a lot to any significant runoff. The mud-exposed shoreline of the lake reminds some folks of the period when the lake had to be drained for maintenance. A more detailed explanation of what’s going on is found below.

Woodland Lake Park Purchase Update

A citizen’s group founded over a decade ago, Save Our Park (https://woodlandlakepark.org/) originally raised funds to purchase the park to prevent it from being developed. To everyone’s benefit, a generous couple, Peter and Nancy Salter, and their Salter Family Foundation, stepped in to purchase the 100+ acre portion of the park where the lake and ball fields currently exist.

This allowed the Save Our Park organization to shift fundraising efforts to assisting the Town of Pinetop Lakeside finance its new maintenance responsibilities inherited from the US Forest Service. Town budgets have already been stretched and will only become tighter in the future. Save Our Park donated more than $300,000 in equipment so the Town can more efficiently manage the fire risk in the park. This contribution will thin the vegetation and help avoid the need for prescribed fires.

In addition, Save Our Park has been supporting the same Salter Family Foundation with the purchase of the remaining 400+ acres that will be donated to the Town of Pinetop Lakeside, through a new Adopt an Acre program that will provide additional funding to support park maintenance.

Even though this second purchase and subsequent donation of another portion of Woodland Lake Park has been delayed by federal government funding and position bureaucracy lately, it looks like a land appraisal is moving forward. In order to be prepared in the event that the appraisal is acceptable to the donors, Save Our Park wants to have a plan to raise sufficient funds for maintenance ready to go.

Adopt an Acre

The Adopt an Acre program was started to raise funds to support the Town’s ownership of donated acres of the park. Many acres are still available and are priced to fit many budgets. However, the limited number of acres in the developed southern portion of the park are being adopted quickly. You can find more information on how to adopt an acre at: https://woodlandlakepark.org/adopt-an-acre/ Acres can be adopted for $50, $200, or $500 per year depending on their location.

Adopting an acre doesn’t allow you to make changes to it because the Town of Pinetop Lakeside’s rules and ordinances will still apply. You could certainly visit your acre and air photos may become available, but the reward in adopting an acre is knowing that you are contributing to its continued health and maintenance.

Because of cultural commitments and other reasons, the Big Springs area will remain in Forest Service ownership and management. Since the Town currently only owns the portion of the park with the lake and ball fields, these are the only acres currently available for adoption. If the western portion of the park is purchased and donated to the town, those 400+ acres will also become available for adoption.

When enough funds are raised through this Adopt an Acre Program, Town budgets may not be affected and additional methods to raise funds (i.e. campgrounds, etc.) will not be needed.

So, is it worth it for the town to take over the responsibility of managing Woodland Lake Park? That’s a loaded question, obviously depending on your perspective, but many have identified advantages.

The park could have more flexible management aimed at local needs and desires, governed by laws and regulations that would be locally enforced using town codes instead of federal regulations. This would mean less paperwork in management actions, no special use permits needed from the Forest Service for retail sales or charging for special events, or having to consider multiple-use management like on the National Forest.

A locally owned and controlled Woodland Lake Park also translates to more local buy-in by the community and more personal stewardship responsibility to manage it.

But aren’t we already surrounded by undeveloped public forest? Why do we need Woodland Lake Park?

Woodland Lake Park is obviously closer to population centers and schools, which translates to less driving, making it more convenient and used. The park has strong cell phone coverage throughout for emergency assistance and for connections to the many interpretive sign QR codes linked to websites.

There could be much shorter response times in emergencies because of the closer proximity to emergency services, which means it is safer for older hikers. The already well-developed trail system, with less strenuous trails and shorter loops than found in the National Forest, makes the park more accessible, especially to unique habitats like Walnut Creek.

So where did the water go?

So what’s the real story on the missing water in the lake? No, the dam didn’t leak it all, nor did the irrigation company drain all the water for their paying customers. Actually, water is not even flowing into the ditches and canals that normally feed Woodland Lake enough to fill it.

The primary source of Woodland Lake water in the past was the Pinetop Springs complex just above Arizona Game and Fish and the Worldmark Resort. The area is now a dry, parched meadow, and the pool areas of Billy Creek that used to be hatchery ponds can barely support cattails now.

Considering that Woodland Lake is less than two miles from the top of the watershed in some areas, it relies on the most recent precipitation and shallow aquifers that feed a small area of valuable springs. Water drains downhill from the Pinetop Country Club area north into Woodland Lake within the Little Colorado River watershed, while precipitation at Hon-dah drains in an entirely different direction south into the Salt River watershed.

Our most recent snowpack was pretty much nonexistent, and the advertised “super-monsoon” hasn’t materialized yet. But we still have time. Soils are becoming more saturated with each downpour, and a couple of long overdue, focused thunderstorm events you write home about could make a big difference. It would be nice to break out of our current long-term drought, but not all at once!

Until then, it could pay off in the long run to look at water conservation strategies in the White Mountains before the State of Arizona forces them upon us. We’re far from having the same problems with surface and groundwater issues that they are having in metro-Arizona areas, but discussions have started to monitor water developments, even in the White Mountains.

For hints on how you can do your part in helping conserve water in the White Mountains, go to: https://leaveitbetterwm.com/about/ This site has information about the importance of water to our area and includes learning resources and frequently asked questions.

Woodland Lake is just one glaring example of how changes in precipitation patterns are affecting us. It’s still a great place to take a hike, even along the paved trail, but it would sure be nice to catch some trout in there!!