The Marion County Conservation Board is in the planning stages of rehabilitating the lake at Marion County Park. Conservation Board Chair Steve Edwards says when the lake was built 50 years ago, it was an average of 12-14 feet deep and up to 18 feet deep in some spots. The amount of silt that has built up in 50 years means that it’s only an average of four feet deep now, with a peak of eight feet deep.

Edwards expects the project to take a few years, but the first step is building a silt retention pond upstream from the lake this fall. The board has received two $50,000 grants for the project, including one from the Iowa Fish Habitat program.