NESCATUNGA — At the R Store in this small northern Oklahoma town, you're guaranteed to find supplies needed for a stay at the Great Salt Plains Lake — bait, tackle, camping gear, food, ice, soda and beer.

What can't be guaranteed is that you'll always be able to find the lake.

The lake is disappearing. More accurately, it's filling with sediment. While it was once deep enough for motorboats and skiing — there was even a ski jump — now it is so shallow some say an average-size person could walk across it without the water getting higher than waist-deep. Others say the person would probably sink in the silt and get stuck.

"It's just dissipating,” said Warren Curl, R Store owner.

"If the lake ain't here, we probably will go down. We need to save the lake.”

Spurred on by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking for public input on the lake's future, hundreds have attended meetings, commented to the federal agency and joined a Facebook group urging the lake's restoration.

The corps is preparing an initial appraisal of the lake's future. The agency manages the dam, spillway and lake. Other agencies run the surrounding crystal digging area, wildlife refuge and state park.

The corps appraisal could lead to major changes, like dredging the lake in an attempt to re-establish depth and allow recreation. Or, it could lead to no action, which would let nature take its course and eliminate fishing and most aquatic recreation.

"Our lake and the restoration of the lake can and will have an economic impact to our region and Oklahoma,” said Patti Wilber, associate dean for economic development at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. "The people of northwestern Oklahoma are passionate about their lake.”

Fishing, recreation demand is waning

Dam and spillway construction on the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River started in 1938 and was completed in 1941 for flood control in the Salt Fork and Arkansas River valleys, fish and wildlife conservation and recreation.

In its heyday, the Great Salt Plains Lake sported a marina with a restaurant, docks, boathouses and a ski jump.

Visitation to the area has significantly declined in recent years, from 292,516 in 1999 to 129,338 in 2007 at corps lands and the state park. While visitation for crystal digging — 3,000 to 4,000 people monthly — and wildlife are steady, the number of people angling, boating and camping is down.

"You can hardly see any boats anymore,” Curl said. "If you do, it's just a small one, like a kayak or canoe.”

Although locals say fish from the salty lake taste better than fish caught anywhere else, fishing could end unless something is done.

The salinity and sediment are causing water quality and habitat issues that hasten periodic fish kills, especially when it's hot, said John Stahl, northwest regional fisheries supervisor.

Because of those conditions, the state Wildlife Conservation Department ceased fisheries management at the lake earlier this year, Stahl said.

The department stocked the lake for a few years after a large fish kill in 2006, which stretched from the lake to Ponca City along the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River. But most surviving fish would look for less salty or deeper water and head up to river tributaries or over the spillway and into the Salt Fork.

"It used to be a channel catfish factory,” said Stahl, who has fished the lake himself for 31 years. "Now, it's just unmanageable when you're dealing with 18 inches of water. It's just not worth the investment now.”

Looking at the future

In July at the Alfalfa County fairgrounds, the corps held a public meeting on the lake's future and between 150 and 200 people showed up.

The corps presented potential alternatives, from removing sediment from the lake to doing nothing. The final recommendations likely are to be something in between, corps spokesman Ross Adkins said.

After the meeting a Facebook group, Restore Great Salt Plains Lake, was formed. Last Tuesday, more than 150 people showed up at a community meeting in Jet.

One suggestion is dredging a portion of the lake near the state park that could be used for recreation and fishing. The sediment could be used for building up shoreline, an existing island and possibly creating other islands for wildlife, said Wilber, who has helped organize the Facebook effort and community meetings.

"We recognize that dredging the entire lake would cost millions of dollars,” she said.

Doing anything is better than doing nothing, Wilber said, adding that restoring the lake would act as economic stimulus.

"This is a sustainable means of creating jobs,” she said. "It's not an overnight quick fix, but within four years we could see something happening at the lake.”

Adkins said his agency invites public comment. He said it could be three to four years for projects to begin.

For people in Nescatunga — an Osage name that means "big salty water” — and other nearby communities, the lake is a necessity that keeps businesses and a way of life vital.

"This lake, this is the only thing we got out here in northwestern Oklahoma,” Curl said. "There ain't a lake in Oklahoma that I'd rather go to. This is good-eatin' fish.”