The Shell Rock River Watershed District intends to start negotiations for professional engineering and design services for the dredging and restoration of Fountain Lake.

The district’s board passed a resolution Tuesday to begin the dredging project, a technicality that allows district officials to begin their plans.

“This resolution is a technical step in moving forward with this important project,” said Watershed District Administrator Brett Behnke in a news release.

Watershed district officials will lobby for $7.5 million — half of the estimated $15 million total cost — in state funding during this year’s legislative session.

“We will continue to look to the community and our partners for input and support,” Behnke said.

The action follows the district’s $340,000 purchase this fall of a 2010 IMS 7012 HP Versi 51-foot hydraulic dredge. The district also bought, for $435,000, pipes, pumping and other equipment necessary to pump the dredge material away from the lake site.

The next steps include engineering, permitting, land acquisition and securing additional outside funding. Andy Henschel, with the watershed district, said with the approval of the resolution, preliminary engineering will more than likely begin in February, followed by the basic planning, design and permitting.

The actual dredging is not expected to occur until 2014, Behnke said in previous interviews.