Correction regarding Central Park Lake project

By: 
Staff report

     The article covering the Jones County Supervisors meeting that appeared in the Jan. 25 Express contained an error in the amount of funding Jones County has already contributed to the Central Park Lake Restoration Project. The article stated that county funds (board of supervisors and conservation) already spent on the watershed portion of the project was $329,392, when the county’s total contribution so far has actually only been $67,300. This funding contribution was 9 percent of the $735,000 needed for the watershed portion of the Lake Restoration project.

     The final phase of the project including dredging, shoreline stabilization, spillway replacement, and the installation/replacement of three lake access points is projected to cost $2.8 million. Of that conservation has already raised $2.2 million in grants and donations. To complete the project, Conservation Director Brad Mormann has asked the county for $589,874, which includes $20,000 from the Conservation Department.

     Taking on a project like this is needed, as the 23-acre Central Park Lake is over 50 years old. Mormann said there is 52 years of sediment and nutrients that have built up over time in the lakebed. The improvements, additional watershed projects and dredging will make it so the lake doesn’t have to be overhauled again for another 75-100 years.

      “We’ve already seen improvements in the water quality within the lake the last two years,” said Mormann. That is due to the addition of a 7-acre pond, two wetlands, a new wastewater system, and an 80-acre acquisition in the watershed. All of these have greatly reduced the flow of sediment and nutrients into the lake. Mormann explained the excess nutrients were causing heavy algae blooms in the lake itself.

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