Senator Wants to Put Ashland Underwater...

So what is the deal with this proposal to build a lake right on top of Ashland??? It's not that I'm a big fan of the town or anything. I've been through it a few times and know relatively little about it. But why would a senator propose eliminating a town just to put in a lake? And apparantly this is not the first time something like this has been proposed. Am I missing something here?