By Sean Golightly | AZ Daily Sun
When Lake Elaine was constructed in the 1970s, it was an asset to the Continental Country Club that buoyed the property value of waterfront homeowners.
But in recent years, the man-made lake has failed to hold water and plunged the club into a series of costly repairs and lawsuits. Now, the club is trying to emerge from bankruptcy with a plan that would keep Lake Elaine drained once and for all.
As a man-made lake constructed in the high-desert ponderosa pine forest of Flagstaff, Lake Elaine was artificial and unsuited to its environment. Its existence depended on plastic lining embedded throughout 37 acres of lake bed to keep water from seeping into the porous limestone landscape.
