(Radio Iowa) -Planning continues for the restoration of a northern Iowa lake currently listed on the state’s list of impaired waters — due to high levels of algae. Billie Willie is a naturalist for Kossuth County Conservation Board, which manages Smith Lake.
The D-N-R estimates the cost of the project will be nearly six-MILLION dollars. Willie says the lake will be drained in September of next year.
Iowa has just 34 natural lakes. The rest are man-made. Smith Lake was constructed in the mid-1960s and Willie says once the lake is drained and the ground freezes, contractors will be able to excavate.
Plans call for four retention bays to be constructed around the 54 acre lake.
The state’s Lake Restoration Program was created in 2006 for publicly-owned lakes. Over the past 20 years, it has spent 172-MILLION dollars to improve the water clarity in 72 lakes in 55 counties.
