(Milford)– Plans to lower water levels on West Lake Okoboji by breaching 230th Avenue at Lower Gar have been shelved…for now atleast.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a statement Monday saying the emergency project was being postponed indefinitely based on lower than projected water levels and greatly reduced possibilities for a flood of the Iowa Great Lakes this spring.
A Sioux Falls firm that was awarded a contract on the project last week was to have started work Monday. But the $69,000 project is now on indefinite hold as Colonel Robert Ruch, District Commander of the Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a statement saying the updated runoff forecast indicated “it will not be necessary to breach the road”. Based on that data, West Lake Okoboji is now forecast to crest at an elevation of 1,397.3 to 1,397.6 feet…about a foot to four-tenths-of-a-foot below the level where damages begin.
Officials say the initial forecasts had been conservative, using six inches of snow to water equivalent, 100 percent run-off and average precipitation. Based on the latest information, Corps officials say the revised forecast is for 60 to 80 percent runoff and below normal rainfall.
Lower Gar was on the agenda for Monday’s Milford city council meeting, but there was very little discussion as a result of the latest developments.
