A new pond designed to improve Sioux Center’s environmental impact will also create a new outdoor recreation space for things like fishing and walking or biking.
Work is underway to build a 4-acre detention pond in eastern Sioux Center. The pond is designed to detain water from about 145 acres to help improve downstream water quality. Work should be complete in October.
“This detention pond will serve as detention for previous, new, and future development in this area,” said Sioux Center Assistant Utilities Manager Adam Fedders.
A forebay, an entry point for water coming to the pond, is designed to allow sediment and debris to silt out of the water before entering the pond to help improve downstream water quality, he added.
The pond will also offer natural recreation, including catch-and-release fishing. People will access the pond via a paved maintenance trail around it, accessible by 11th Street SE. In the next year or so, plans call for the recreation trail system to connect to it as well.
“We will stock the pond with fish from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, hopefully this fall, but most likely next spring,” Fedders said.
In the pond, the water will be an average of about 9 feet deep, with some areas as deep as 14 feet, depending on water flow into the pond. Ledge rock will surround the pond, helping prevent erosion and also giving people a place to fish. Fedders said the pond is designed to have water in it year-round, with stop gates that can be used to adjust the level of the pond.
This pond, which is southwest of Sioux Center Health and northwest of the Woodbridge development, is being paid for with $1 million from the State Revolving Fund, $100,000 in Water Quality Initiative funds, and local stormwater utility funds.