A man-made southwest Iowa lake that was drained is refilling fast, thanks to this year’s wet spring. Lake Icaria near Corning covers 700 acres and was drained last summer. Dan Carl is director of the Adams County Conservation Board, which manages the lake. “For the amount of rain that we’ve had this spring, the water is…really clear which means to me that the work that they have done in the watershed and the riprap and the wetlands they’re putting up on the east end is doing its job,” Carl says. “It should improve our water quality a tremendous amount.” The lake’s water level is about three-and-a-half feet below normal and the main boat ramp on the north side of the lake is now open. Carl says it’s hard to tell how much more rain it’ll take to completely fill the lake to a normal level. “The fuller the lake gets, the more volume it will take to expand so the last three feet is the hardest to get,” he says. Carl has some advice for people who want to go waterskiing on the lake. Carl says you should make a short trip around the lake to familiarize yourself with the water before you go “full blast.” The swimming beach is open, too. Lake Icaria was known for its catfish, and Carl says fishing enthusiasts should be happy with the fish that’ve been stocked in the lake.Thousands of catfish, bass and wall-eye were put in the water, and they got rid of the carp which allows the fish and other water life in the lake to go on a “smorgasbord feeding spree” according to Carl. A French Colony called Icaria was located nearby in the latter half of the 18-hundreds, and that’s where the lake got its name when it was opened in 1978. You can find more information about the lake on-line at www.corningia.com/lakes.htm.
