Finally, Bachman Lake Will Be More Than Northwest Dallas' Puny Version of White Rock

The lake is a constant we residents of the Great Northwest take for granted, a backdrop we seldom see even when looking straight at it. It's there on our trips to the big-box stores and gas-station taquerias, on our drives to the neighborhood airport that has grown loud and busy. Some run around the lake, some row in it. But most drive over it and around it and past it.It was, for a long time, even a pejorative — Bachman Lake, said with a sneer as shorthand for lawlessness, decline, decay. And, the name was hurled as insult because of what it is not — White Rock Lake.Which is what made Monday such a special day, especially for us lifers for whom Bachman has been an afterthought when thought of at all. Because on Monday, officials with Dallas Water Utilities vowed to spare and repair and restore the 205-acre lake that more than a century ago served as Dallas' first-ever supply of drinking water."It's a pretty old lake," said Richard Wagner, a DWU assistant director. Pretty, as in attractive, appealing. Old, yes. But not just that.  Continue reading...