Group developing plan to save silt-laden Iowa lake

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) — A nonprofit is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a plan aimed at saving Coralville Lake from increased sedimentation that threatens to silt-in the lake in as few as 20 years. Jon Kounkel is president of the group, Friends of Coralville Lake. He tells The Gazette that he joined the group after buying a house near the lake during the winter nearly two decades ago, only to discover the lake’s dirty brown water once the ice melted. Kounkel says he’s watched the lake decline ever since, as 1,300 acre-feet of additional sediment per year drops into the lake. The Army Corps estimates it will be 20 to 30 years before the lake silts in and becomes unusable for boating.