DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Scott County and state officials in Iowa are planning a $3 million restoration of four popular lakes in Davenport to improve water quality and recreation.
The Quad-City Times reports that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has partnered with Scott County for the project at West Lake Park. The restoration will include draining Lake of the Hills and its three surrounding lakes to cleanup sediment buildup from heavy mechanical dredging.
Blue Grass, Railroad and Lambach Lakes had been designed to serve as retention ponds to protect the lake, but erosion occurred and carried runoff into the water.
The county will fund 25 percent of the costs and the state will cover the remaining 75 percent with funding secured through Iowa’s Lake Restoration Program.
Representatives from all three entities are hosting a public meeting Thursday in Blue Grass.
Beginning this fall, eight or nine new retention ponds will be added to the 1,680-plus acre watershed that encompasses West Lake Park.
The QC Times reports that although an official construction timeline has not been released, they plan to begin lowering water levels in August 2019. The job also calls for stabilizing shrinking shorelines, improving fish habitat and updating the lakes’ outlet infrastructure.
More than half a million people visit the park on an annual basis.
