Restoration Plans Are In The Works For An Emmet County Lake
Restoration Plans Are In The Works For An Emmet County Lake
October 26, 2021Steve Schwaller
(Estherville)– A shallow lake in Emmet county is about to undergo a restoration. Mike Hawkins, a fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says West Swan Lake has seen a significant decline in water quality recently…
“We attempted a renovation and some restoration work back in the early 2000’s and it was marginally successful. We were able to get some aquatic plant life around the edges back but the fishery and water quality really remained unchanged. This will be a second attempt and we’re going to be trying to be a little more aggressive with that and actually reset the fishery completely, block out common carp, and try to get it restocked in a couple of years here and hopefully get some better habitat and water quality and just better recreational value all around.”
Hawkins says part of the project will involve a partial draw down of the lake…
“There’s been a little bit of confusion that would affect other lakes in the chain but that’s not the case. We’re shooting for around three and-a-half feet of water off of that lake and that will concentrate a lot of the rough fish that are in there and allow us to get a renovation done, induce a winter kill on the lake next year. And that will also promote some of the aquatic plant life and germination of bulrush and cattail and thedges around the edge of that lake which will also help with water quality and habitat.”
Hawkins says a study of nearby Jack Creek, a drainage ditch, will also be taking place as part of the project…
“We want to make sure and do our due diligence, make sure that sediment is held to a minimum for the project. We don’t want sediment going downstream, of course. But if there was some impact downstream we’ll have to take care of those and make sure that’s done right. And so we’re going to do a survey pre-project and then, you know, take a look at that information post-project and make sure we haven’t had any negative impacts to drainage downstream.”
Hawkins says they’ll also be holding a public informational meeting on the project. He says a date and other details for that will be forthcoming.
