ROGERS -- Zones are being redrawn on Beaver Lake as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers updates the lake's master plan. The last update was in 1976, 10 years after the 1966 completion of the Beaver Lake project and before computers. Beaver Lake drawings are being digitized as part of the new plan, said Sean Harper, Beaver Lake operations project manager. "We kind of have a clean slate in terms of looking at the project of Beaver Lake," he said. Descriptions of zones around the lake have changed since 1976, and new categories have been added. Those changes, plus missing information on some of the old maps make the new master plan a major overhaul.

A Corps website shows 1976 map classifications overlaid on the modern shoreline. Docks and mowing permits should be in the yellow low-density areas on the online map, said Dana Coburn, planning and environmental chief for the Corps Little Rock district. Some areas of shore are missing any kind of label. Many docks now are in environmentally sensitive areas, formerly known as natural areas. Those areas will have to be rezoned as part of the master plan, Harper said. There are 1,687 private docks and 670 community docks on Beaver Lake, creating 4,873 private slips, Harper said. "If they have a dock on the lake right now, they're not going to lose it," Coburn said.

The master plan will answer broad questions about what the lake should look like in 20 years, Coburn said. She oversaw the Table Rock and Bull Shoals master plan revisions. Water quality, safety and recreation were top priorities for Table Rock and Bull Shoals was water quality, environmental concerns and recreation, she said. Focus groups were called in to review draft plans that were presented in a second round of workshops before the final plan was approved, and the same process will be used at Beaver Lake.