Cedar Lake project to improve water quality, remove invasive species
Mysteries long hidden in the depths of Cedar Lake may be revealed soon as a long-awaited dredging project comes to fruition.
Town officials will host a groundbreaking ceremony at 4 p.m. on June 6 at the Town Hall beach, located at 7408 Constitution Ave.
Construction of the facility will take place this summer with the dredging slated to begin in the fall.
“This is actually going to be real,” Randy Niemeyer, town council president, said. Dredging has been something town officials have discussed as long as he has been in office, maybe longer.
Plans call for building the facility on the back 45 acres of an approximately 80-acre parcel fronting Parrish Avenue. The facility will include a 12-footdeep basin carved out of the hard-pack clay where sediment will be collected. Sediment will be pumped from the lake in an 18-inch pipe to the dewatering facility where it will be stored while the water seeps back out of it, Don Oliphant, with Christopher Burke Engineering of Crown Point, said.
The clean water will then be returned to the lake through gravity and natural tributaries. The basin will be able to hold about 300 cubic tons of sediment and can pump a maximum of 6,000 gallons per minute, he said.
The push to dredge the lake never gained the full traction or funding it needed until 2018, when the town decided to take on the project, according to Randy Niemeyer. Cost for the original
dredging project proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers was $22 million. Niemeyer said the town was able to work with the corps to come up with another plan and bring that price take down to $7 million.
“We’ve come up with a project that will be very similar. It will all be locally funded now,” Niemeyer said.
Councilwoman Julie Rivera
said the project will be completed with no property tax increase.
Bob Gross, president of the Cedar Lake Enhancement Association, said the group has been working to improve the water quality of the lake and ultimately complete the dredging project since it founded as a 501 3c in 1998. It also has been raising funds to help with the the cost. The group has worked with local partners including the town and Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Army Corps of Engineers on projects to reduce exterior pollutants such as farm run off.
Work on the dredging project is expected to take four years, with construction of the dewatering facility the first step. After the shallower parts of the lake are dredged, alum will be spread in the deeper water to encapsulate any remaining sediment and pull it to the bottom of the lake. The final stage of the project will include spreading out what remains of the sediment that has been dried at the dewatering facility.
Town Councilman Robert Carnahan said the project has been a long time coming. Once the project is completed and the site is no longer needed to dewater the sediment, the town can use the land for another purpose. Officials are considering a sports complex.
“It’s more about overall investment,” Niemeyer said.
While the project will improve the lake water quality, dredging the lake will create a broader opportunity for public improvements not just for boaters, Niemeyer said. The project also will have a positive impact on down stream water sources including Cedar Creek and Lake Dalecarlia.
“It helps the entire ecosystem.” Niemeyer said.
Rivera said the project will include the water quality and remove invasive species from the lake.
“It will look cleaner and will take out the predators,” she said. Once dredging is complete the lake will be restocked with native fish.
Officials are refocusing on the next chapter of economic development and tourism for the town such as enhancing the existing town parks like the Bartlett Wahlberg Park and creating walking and cycling connectivity from the town hall roundabout, Niemeyer said. The goal is to return the town to its resort community roots with improved walkability and a thriving downtown strip.
Improvements at the park would include a larger parking area and small pier. The sidewalks will be installed using a $2 million grant from NIRPC.
“I think it will be a massive draw for the economy,” Niemeyer said.