Lake Delhi returning after 6-year hiatus

DELHI - The horrified expressions that prevailed here nearly six years ago when floodwaters destroyed the Lake Delhi dam were replaced by smiles and grins Friday afternoon when the floodgates closed on the rebuilt dam, signaling the lake's rebirth.

'The passion, hard work and perseverance of Lake Delhi residents, coupled with support from the state and Delaware County governments, generated the positive energy and can-do attitude that brought the lake back,” said Steve Leonard, president of the board of trustees of the Combined Lake Delhi Recreational Facility and Water Quality District.

'This is a great day. I'm glad to see you're back,” said Delaware County Supervisor Shirley Helmrichs.

The Maquoketa River was flowing Friday at a rate of about 325 cubic feet per second at the gauge upstream in Manchester. At that rate, Leonard said, it would take about three weeks to refill the 400-acre lake.

'It could happen faster if we get some good rains,” he said.

It took only a few hours for the lake to empty on July 24, 2010, after the dam breached following heavy rains in the Maquoketa River watershed.

Delaware County Supervisor Jeff Madlom recalled watching the dam fail and thinking it would never be rebuilt.

'You did it,” Madlom told more than 100 people gathered near the dam to watch the closing of the gate.

Trustee Larry Burger, who started coming to Lake Delhi in 1955, said he, too, thought the dam would never be rebuilt.

'For six years we've been taking two steps forward and one step back. We've had a lot of hurdles to overcome,” he said.

The momentum changed, he said, when more than 95 percent of Lake Delhi residents approved a $6 million bond referendum. Their willingness to help themselves, he said, helped persuade the state and county to support the rebuilding effort with grants totaling $5 million and $3 million, respectively.

State Rep. Lee Hein, R-Monticello, said Lake Delhi residents earned the support of state government.

'You did everything the state asked, and you stayed with it,” he said.

Burger said real estate values, which tanked after the lake vanished, have climbed back to pre-flood levels and will continue to go up.

Pat Colgan, a retired civil engineer and volunteer coordinator of the rebuild effort, said the rebuilt dam and spillway can safely accommodate a flow of 69,000 cubic feet per second - well more than twice the flow that caused the 2010 breach.

'I would say it's fail-safe short of an asteroid strike,” he said.