DAVENPORT-- Line in water, bobber steady, but Josaphine Miller says the first step to fishing at West Lake Park in Davenport is gloves.
"It makes it difficult to fish, but see, I'm fishing through it," says Josaphine Miller.
But it's not just aesthetics that this green gunk is hurting. There's more to it.
"We're on the Iowa impaired waters listing. So that means our water quality's not as good as it could be," says Marc Miller with the Scott County Conservation Board.
The four lakes at the park were originally made to be retention ponds, but erosion over the years carried extra runoff into the water.
"The park opened in 1972, so it's 46 years old. So the water aspect, it's time to renovate," says Marc Miller.
Scott County and the state are chipping in to invest $3.5M to restore this lake and three others at West Lake Park in Davenport. The plan is to empty the lakes to restore them, add ponds, and then stock them with game fish.
Leaders say when this project is all said and done, people will be able to look into the water and see clear, straight down.
The project is welcomed news to this fisherwoman.
Line in water, bobber not so steady, in the future there will be no gloves necessary.
The project is set to start this fall. The lakes will be drained for cleaning August 2019.
There will be a public meeting held on Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Blue Grass Public Safety Building for more information about the project.
