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Project this summer to include Edgewater, Dane and main bays

 

After a break for the winter, dredging on Fountain Lake’s Edgewater Bay started again last week.

Shell Rock River Watershed District Administrator Andy Henschel said roughly 20,000 cubic yards of sediment will be removed out of Edgewater Bay before the dredging is slated to begin in June in the main bay of Fountain Lake near Hatch Bridge, along with Dane Bay.

Henschel said people can expect to see the dredge demobilized and then remobilized in the main bay of the lake, and a smaller dredge is anticipated to be brought in for work in Dane Bay. The smaller dredge will be connected into the same booster pump for the larger dredge and will be connected to a new discharge line, which will take sediment to a confined disposal facility.

Work is being conducted by J.F. Brennan, dredging and marine construction company. This will be the third year for the project.

Henschel said the company is taking out about 330,000 cubic yards of sediment from the lake per year. The contract the company is under currently is for 670,000 cubic yards, which will be completed this year and next.

He said docks will be limited in the areas where dredging can occur up to 50 feet from the shoreline, and he reminded people to watch out for signs about the piping and the dredge.

“Safety is key,” he said. “We really want to stress being safe on the water when you’re in and around (the dredge).”

Work continues as community leaders push for $7.5 million in bonding funds from the state for the third phase of the project, which includes the eastern part of the main bay, along with portions of Bancroft Bay.

“We feel pretty positive,” Henschel said. “We feel that with the COVID-19 pandemic, that they’re going to use the bonding bill to stimulate the economy.”

He anticipated legislators looking closely at local projects across the state to include in the bill.

In addition to cleaning the lake itself, he said the dredging project is important for Albert Lea in that it brings tourism into the community, which in turn positively affects local businesses.

Though the project was not included in Gov. Tim Walz’s bonding bill released earlier this year, Henschel said he thinks the project has a lot of support in the House and Senate.

He encouraged residents to reach out to District 27A Rep. Peggy Bennett and District 27 Sen. Dan Sparks and to push them to support the project.

The project has also gotten support from other community entities, including the city of Albert Lea, Freeborn County, the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce and the Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau.