Lake Delhi dam breach (courtesy Iowa State Patrol)
The board overseeing Lake Delhi in eastern Iowa opened bids Thursday for the final phase of the project to restore the lake.
Flood waters from the Maquoketa River caused the dike beside the dam to collapse in July of 2010 and all the water drained out of the lake, leaving the homeowners and businesses in the resort area high and dry.
The final piece of the $16 million project to rebuild the dam and spillway is expected to be completed by October 23rd. The will allow the lake to fill back up and trustee president, Steve Leonard, envisions water skiing and other activities could be back to normal. “Probably better than normal. There is so much reconstruction. We’re going to have a new boat ramp, a new beach area, a new area for fishing, a new area for enhanced parking and recreational benefits to our entire community in addition to the lake being restored,” Leonard says.
The state is paying $5 million of the rebuilding costs, Delaware County 3 million, and the rest is coming from Lake Delhi residents.