McCook Lake, SD (Kiv) -it is usually a leisure hotspot in the U -Bahn, but it is quiet for almost a year. The McCook Lake was badly damaged during the floods in June last year.
“The aim of the project is to remove sediment and debris that came into the lake during the flood, which is a risk of leisure for the lake,” said Kip Rounds with South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks.
This project on the McCook Lake has already started and is expected to take most of the summer. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks monitors the restoration.
“We estimate that around 20,000 cubic meters will be removed from the lake at the end of this project.”
With a price of over 1 million US dollars, excavators are working on removing the sediment and the debris that consists of houses, trees and other materials from the bottom of the lake. The project is financed by the Ministry of Public Security and the emergency disaster fund. Part of this project includes surveys on the bottom of the lake.
“It was a big, challenging part of this project just because the unknown, right?” said rounds. “We don't know what's in the lake. We do not know what we will uncover on the water, depending on what we will uncover on the water level, which may appear when the water level falls.”
Starting with the coast, the project in the Lake Center is removed two peninsulas that developed in the flood. The contractor hovers the load barge on the lake to further remove debris from the coast.
Rounds say that another piece of it is the fish and the animal world.
“At that time it is unknown how the flood will affect wild animals, especially fishing in the lake,” he said. “I suspect when this project is complete and the equipment is outside the location, our fishing workers will make an assessment of the lake setting and find out what this fishing community still looks like, and if necessary, we will surely bring fish as soon as possible.”
According to rounds, this is a unique project for Game Fish and Parks, but their final goal is to bring the boaters back on the water.
“And we are confident that the end of this project will lead to a lake that can be reproduced,” said Runde. “And again it will look the same? We are not sure, but we hope that McCook Lake can at least be used and enjoyed as it was always.”
According to Game Fish and Parks, water quality is currently not a problem, but it is monitored a bit. All debris and sediment taken out of the lake are properly disposed of.
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