Lake Delhi dam rebuild with Federal money
The Lake Delhi dam from Delaware County broke during the weekend and left behind acres of mud with dead fish on the lakefront properties of the people living in eastern Iowa.The dam gave away under the pressure of the water from the rapidly rising Maquoketa River, and it destroyed the nine miles long lake and the properties around it. This is because of the heavy rains from last week, which drove the river to a much higher level than it ever was before and it caused the part of the dam which was made out of earth to collapse. The part of the dam that was made out of concrete remained intact, but the huge stream of water that flowed from the lake destroyed half of the 1,000 homes and cabins from its neighborhood. Jim Willey, the director of the Lake Delhi Recreation Association, says that the value of the properties around the lake has already dropped since the disappearance of the water and that the owners hope that the lake will be restored. The dam was built in 1927 to produce hydroelectricity, but it is now used only on recreational purposes so the association members pay dues to maintain it. The group is committed to recover the lake, but receiving the funding could be a major problem, so they have to wait until they find out if a federal disaster declaration will be granted.
David Miller, the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director, says that there will probably be federal assistance for recovering the lake because they have received aid after a major flooding back in 2008. If it will be approved, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay 75 percent of the total costs, the state will pay 10 percent and the local government will have to pay the remaining 15 percent.11
