Help Lake Delhi, with conditions

By The Gazette Editorial Board

--

Iowa lawmakers face a basic question: Is a restored Lake Delhi in Delaware County worth a $5 million state investment?

We believe it is, but only if key issues are addressed.

House File 648, which spends $166 million from gambling tax proceeds on infrastructure projects, includes $2.5 million in each of the next two fiscal years for restoring a Maquoketa River dam that creates the lake. It was washed away in July after a deluge of torrential rains.

State money would be spent on the project only if a local fundraising and county bonds match state funds dollar-for-dollar. The Senate has approved the money, but the House hasn't weighed in.

Sen. Tom Hancock, D-Epworth, led the drive to add funding to the bill. He believes the lake is an asset worthy of state investment. “(Losing it) would be a huge blow to Eastern Iowa,” he said.

Although the dam, much of the land surrounding Lake Delhi, and the lake bed itself are privately owned, the lake waters were a state-owned resource that attracted visitors and economic activity. Hancock contends, according to a study commissioned by local leaders, the loss of the lake could subtract $120 million annually from the local economy. Schools and local governments would lose tax revenues.

Hancock argues that it's appropriate to spend money raised from one form of recreation, gambling, to restore the lake as a recreation destination. Backers also insist that restoration of the lake is needed to help the surrounding lake community recover from catastrophe.

Here in Cedar Rapids, we are sympathetic to that argument. The state of Iowa has poured many millions of dollars into important local institutions here in the wake of the 2008 flood. It would be difficult for us to argue that, for instance, our own

Paramount Theatre deserves a

$5 million state I-JOBS grant, but that Lake Delhi's restoration should get no state help.

But help should not come as a blank check.

The state should fund the project only if requirements

are put in place mandating

expanded public access to the lake and lakeshore. It must be clear in the minds of Iowans that public money is not being invested in a private summer playground.

The state should require that all concerns about the handling of sewage and wastewater in the lake community be addressed before one dime of state money is spent. The waters of the state are a public resource that must be protected.

And once again, without a significant commitment to watershed management, there's no guarantee the state's investment won't be washed away. At the very least, lawmakers should restore funding being cut from watershed programs before they fund a new Lake Delhi dam.

n Comments: thegazette.com/

category/opinion/editorial or

editorial@sourcemedia.net