(Spirit Lake)– Officials say good progress is being made in the Jemmerson Slough restoration project, which started last year. It’s scheduled for completion late this coming fall. Officials say it will play a critical role in helping improve water quality of the Iowa Great Lakes and by providing hunting habitat.
Chris LaRue of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimates about half the project is complete. He says work has been completed on 16 acres of wetlands and multiple basins.
The project is expected to have more than 30 acres of wetlands along with the restoration of 70 acres of native upland prairie.
The property was purchased at auction in 2008 by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation which helped protect more than 119,000 acres of land throughout Iowa, including many sites in the Iowa Great Lakes. The foundation held the land at low interest using the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund. The DNR purchased the site from the foundation last year.
