Ponds planned for Pleasant Creek to enhance water quality

A popular state recreation area near Palo is poised to get new ponds to keep sediment from going into Pleasant Creek Lake, and most of them will be deep enough to make new fishing spots.

Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area is about 15 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids. Its 410-acre lake was created by damming Pleasant Creek about 50 years ago, according to state records.

The lake's depth exceeds 50 feet and supports large game fish such as muskies. And because it is fed by water from a relatively small area, its water quality is better than most, said Michelle Balmer, who is part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' lake restoration team.

"We do what we can to improve the water quality and protect the water quality that we have in place," Balmer said.

The Iowa DNR improved the lake about eight years ago by increasing its depth near the shoreline and stabilizing the shoreline with about 50,000 tons of rock. That project cost about $2.4 million.

The new project is more modest. It will create four ponds near the lake to capture rainwater and snow melt, allowing eroded soil to settle in the ponds before the water goes into the lake. It will cost about $315,000.

It's unclear when the work will start. Boomerang Corp., of Anamosa, was the low bidder for the project and must complete it by September 2025.

The ponds are expected to have surface areas that range from less than an acre to nearly 2 acres, with depths that range from 6 to 15 feet. The three deepest will have enough water to support game fish such as bluegill, bass and catfish.

Three of the ponds will be located in wooded areas on the south side of the lake and one on its north. Paths that will be made through the trees for construction equipment will be maintained as trails afterward.

The ponds likely will be dredged in future years to remove the soil they capture. Balmer said the ponds also will prevent some nutrients such as phosphorus — which contributes to algae blooms — from entering the lake.

Matt Bonar, park manager for the recreation area, said the projects are key to maintaining and improving the county's largest lake.

"That restoration project really helped get the panfish back," he said. "That's really picked up and helped everything else out."

Predatory fish such as bass and muskies need a robust population of the smaller fish to thrive. Bonar said people catch muskies that are in excess of 40 inches in length from the lake.

The recreation area has campgrounds, more than 8 miles of trails for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding, and is open for hunting.

Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com