ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MO (KTVI) – The lake in Lone Elk Park is losing water.
Over the weekend park staff noticed the water level in the lake was going down rapidly.
St. Louis County Parks Operations Manager Jim Gerken said since Saturday they have lost about six or seven feet of water from the lake.
“Our assumption is a hole or a leak has developed in the bottom of the lake,” said Gerken.
The problem is Gerken and his team won’t know where the hole is until the lake stops draining.
“If the lake level stops we can assume the hole or the leak is at that elevation,” said Gerken.
He said it is not unusual for manmade lakes in St. Louis to spring a hole. This is an area of the country where there is a lot of limestone rock underneath the soil.
Gerken said that rock creates a lot of sinkholes, steams and caves so when you build a lake on top of that material it is not uncommon that a hole could develop.
He said when the lake was built a clay liner was placed over the limestone and now they are guessing there is a hole in that liner.
There are fish in the lake but right now the water is still at a level where they are able to survive.
