By Jolene Farley
The Beaver Creek Sportsmen Club is trying to come up with a plan to clean up the Hills Rez.
"We’re just in the planning stages and trying to look at all options," club member Roger Jackson said. "We don’t want to do something, and it doesn’t do anything."
During dry years like the last few years, algae and weeds grow in the pond when water movement slows or stops. The Rez is usually fed by a creek flowing in from north of Hills.
"It was so dry the last few years, we haven’t had any flow through the Rez," he said.
The Sportsmen Club visited Hills City Council meetings last August and again in March to update the council and discuss plans to help the situation.
The group is working with the Lions Club and the City Council to come up with as many ideas as possible.
"We’re just trying to come up with a solution," said Jackson.
The group hoped treating the water with chemicals or purchasing an aerator for the pond would help. But according to Jackson, no one would guarantee an aerator would help the situation.
Jackson said a U.S. Fish and Wildlife representative came to look at the Rez this winter and spent three hours talking at a Sportsmen’s Club meeting about possible options for the Rez.
Now that snow cover is melted, the Rez will be surveyed for slope to see if settling pools could be constructed and maybe grass filtering strips added to slow down and filter the water.
The City Council and the Lions Club support efforts to clean up the Rez, according to council member Keith Elbers.
"I think it’s a valuable asset we’ve got that we’ve neglected," he said at the March meeting.
