Photo courtesy of the City of Lake View.
Construction has finished on Black Hawk Lake’s latest water quality initiative, a fish barrier between the main lake body and Provost Slough near Hunters Point. The barrier is just a part of a long-term watershed management plan prepared by the Sac County Soil and Water Conservation District in 2011. Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fisheries Biologist, Ben Wallace, says the structure is the culmination of years of collaboration between many different organizations and individuals.
The approximately $800,000 fish barrier was funded through a $300,000 contribution from the City of Lake View and donations from the protective association with the remaining amount sourced from the DNR and the State Revolving Fund (SRF). With the barrier now completed, Wallace says they will be better able to control rough fish populations in Black Hawk Lake.
The structure includes a pump that can drain the wetlands to clear out any rough fish without impacting the main body’s water level. Wallace says the pump will also allow them to regulate aquatic vegetation in the slough that can be used to filter water with noticeable impacts to water quality. While this is a big step in the watershed management plan, Wallace says they have more projects coming down the pike in the next two to three years.
He adds they have already identified a site to hold the dredged material, but there is more research that needs to be completed before they can move forward. Wallace has been stationed in Lake View since before the implementation of the watershed plan, calling it a night and day difference between 2010 and now. A copy of the Black Hawk Lake Watershed Management Plan can be found included below.
Black-Hawk-Lake-Watershed-Management
