116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Fundraising campaign coming for Coralville Lake
Sedimentation has made some parts of the lake too shallow for boating
NORTH LIBERTY — When Rodney O’Brine bought his first boat back in the 1980s, the water at Scales Pointe Marina on Coralville Lake was 9 feet deep. Now it’s just 3 feet from the top of the water to the soil beneath.
“You gotta be careful,” O’Brine, 65, of Marion, said about piloting his pontoon boat in and out of the slip without getting the motor stuck in the silt.
Todd Richardson, 52, of Cedar Rapids, constantly monitors the water depth while pulling his daughters, Harper, 13, and Hadley, 10, and his dog, Poppy, on an inflatable raft behind his speed boat.
“I don’t want the kids to fall off where it’s too shallow,” he said.
Coralville Lake, created in 1958 by damming the Iowa River as a flood-control measure, is slowly filling with silt and sand. Sedimentation doesn’t hurt the lake’s role as a place to hold water in times of heavy rain, but it reduces recreational opportunities and can harm water quality.
That’s why the Friends of Coralville Lake are preparing to launch a fundraising campaign in the next year to raise about $750,000 to develop a master plan, hire a planner and do community outreach about the need for lake improvements.
“We want to do something that will let it last another 100 years,” said Jon Kounkel, who lives on Coralville Lake and is president of the nonprofit friends group.
Amperage, a Cedar Rapids marketing and fundraising firm, recently completed a feasibility study for the group. The Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved using American Rescue Plan Act money for the study. Amperage interviewed 38 people, including government officials, economic development leaders, boating enthusiasts and business owners whose income is derived from the lake, Kounkel said.
“In general, it showed that Johnson County residents really understand the value of Coralville Lake,” he said. The lake not only supports marinas, restaurants and rentals, but it also provides boating, fishing and swimming opportunities. The lake is a stopping point for migratory birds, including American white pelicans.
“There are significant opportunities for a fundraising campaign,” Kounkel said of the study.
Lake meets flood and drought protection needs
Congress authorized Coralville Lake for the purposes of flood risk management, drought management, fish and wildlife, and recreation.
The Corps of Engineers keeps the lake at a consistent depth except when there is a heavy rainfall. Then the water level is allowed to rise until the rainfall passes. The Corps then releases the water over the spillway, into the Iowa River, until the lake goes back to its permanent conservation level.
More than 90 percent of the basin’s water storage capacity is above the permanent conservation level, so sedimentation below the water level doesn’t reduce flood protection, the Corps’ Rock Island District said in a recent email.
“The water depth is of little impact on this function,” the agency said. “In fact, the Corps actually operates some ‘dry’ lakes that serve the same flood risk management function.”
In terms of drought protection, the Corps is required to release at least 150 cubic feet of water per second, unless the agency gets a waiver to reduce outflows as low as 75 cubic feet per second. The Corps has not had to reduce outflow in the last 10-plus years.
Improvement plans include eye on water quality
Warm, shallow water is more vulnerable to the growth of algae, including harmful algae blooms that generate toxins that can harm human health. The Corps tests water at the Coralville Lake beaches weekly throughout the summer for E. coli bacteria and algal toxins.
There is a swim advisory now for Sugar Bottom Beach because of high levels of E. coli, Corps spokesman Allen Marshall said.
Water quality advocates earlier this summer formed the Middle Iowa Watershed Management Authority to coordinate water quality improvement efforts among cities, counties and landowners in the watershed, which stretches from Marshall County to Johnson County and includes Coralville Lake.
The authority is eligible to apply for grants to pay for improvement measures.
Ideas mentioned in the past for keeping sediment out of the lake include buffer strips or sediment traps. Dredging has been used to remove silt from other Iowa lakes, such as Storm Lake, but Kounkel would like to see a more enduring option for Coralville Lake.
Get involved in Friends of Coralville Lake
Friends of Coralville Lake, a nonprofit group, would like to get more people involved as board members or volunteers. If you’d like to help with upcoming events, such as the Haunted Trail around Halloween, you can contact the group through Facebook or on its website at www.friendsofcoralvillelake.org.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
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