No lake in Delhi; let river flow

By Peter Komendowski

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‘Bye Bye, Lake Delhi, drove my Chevy to the levee and the levee was dry, and the good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singin' this is the end of Lake Delhi.”

If I could reach into the future, I could sure as rain show you what rebuilding a dam on the Maquoketa River at Delhi would really cost - to the environment, the fishery, and the taxpayers of Iowa.

The future of Iowa, its lands, waters, agriculture and people, lies in our ability to steward our natural resources. One might even say that Iowa's natural resources are a gift of God.

Our children are growing up in a climate of greater understanding and global responsibility than we could have ever imagined. And better than our generation, they can see, and understand, the consequences of actions that stress the environment, and the delicate balance of resources on which we depend.

In Iowa, one of our richest resources, in addition to fertile top soils, is the vast network of free-flowing rivers that have fueled the growth and economy of Iowa.

One way to stress a river is to build a dam, and the dam that created the impoundment formerly called Lake Delhi put major environmental stress on the Maquoketa River.

In fact, the dam was identified as one of the most serious impediments to a healthy river in Iowa. From this point of view, we can look at the removal of the dam as a gift of God, allowing the Maquoketa River to begin its return to the free-flowing state originally decreed by God and nature.

A chance to be free of Iowa's largest unsewered community … to be free of burdening taxpayers with almost a million dollars a year of expenses … to be free of the poor management that resulted in the failure of the dam … to be free of the control of a few private lake property owners … to allow the free passage of paddlers, sportsmen and fishermen … to allow an Iowa agricultural watershed to prosper … to eliminate the threat of downstream pollution and property destruction …

The Lake Delhi Recreation Association has

not yet returned the

$3.6 million that FEMA asked to be returned because it was squandered on projects outside the scope of the grant.

And the Lake Delhi Recreation Association wants millions of Iowa taxpayer dollars to try again.

Not with my tax dollars please.

Peter Komendowski, Waterloo, is a member of Iowa Whitewater Coalition, the Department of Transportation Federal Recreational Trails Advisory Committee, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Water Trails Advisory Committee, and Friends of Iowa Trails. Comments: pkomen-

dowski@gmail.com