LUCAS — Boaters and other water lovers can enjoy Barren River Lake more safely that the lake level has receded after a couple of months of high water.

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported the lake to be at summer pool elevation or 552.6 feet earlier this week, which means most boat ramps are now accessible for launching boats.

But earlier in the summer launching a boat at Barren River Lake was not possible due to the high water level from excessive spring rains.

“Our boat is at the state park marina. Of course we did have some difficulty because no one could put in because of the high waters early in the season,” said avid boater Doug Hatchett, of Glasgow, adding that once the water receded he had no problem launching his pontoon boat. “It’s been a year that has been unusual because we couldn’t do what we needed to do early in the season.”

The marina at Barren River Lake State Resort Park has been open throughout the spring and summer, but the ramp at the marina has only been open for about three weeks.

“A lot of customers who wanted to put in early didn’t have any ramps to put in,” said Wayne Shelton, a co-owner and manager of the marina.

The marina lost business due to the high water levels. People who couldn’t launch their boats at the state park decided they didn’t want to pay boat slip rental fees. That created an economic domino effect. Not only did the marina lose revenue from not renting as many boat slips, it also lost money on the sale of gas and grocery items, Shelton said.

He is hoping business will pick up in August and September. He is planning to offer discounts on boat rentals for the last of August and early September to try to make up for the loss in revenue.

“It’s been a very rough year,” Shelton said.

Shelton is planning to make some changes he hopes will help the marina financially in the long run.

He plans to begin advertising on the Internet and to create a webpage to attract tourists from other states.

Campgrounds and boat ramps around the lake maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were also affected by the spring flood.

“All of the beaches, the state park beach, were under water, Quarry Road Beach, Beaver Creek Beach and portion of the Narrows and Bailey’s Point campgrounds were under the water, as well as most of boat ramps,” said Dave Dahle, a park ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The only boat ramp maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that is not open is the one at Port Oliver and that is due to ongoing construction in the area. All campgrounds and beach areas maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are open, stated a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers press release.

The beach at Barren River Lake Resort Park remains closed due to the beach house being submerged by flood waters in the spring.

“We are having to do a major maintenance overhaul on that building,” said Lisa Davis, resort park manager. “That is what is delaying us getting that open.” 

The state park does plan to reopen the beach, and Davis said, “We would have liked to have seen it opened two months ago. We are working as quickly as possible with all of our vendors.”

The beach house is in need of plumbing, electrical and carpentry work, and it also needs to be disinfected, she said.

“It is a doable task, but it is a time-consuming task,” Davis said. “We are really hopeful to have it open before Labor Day.”