Josh Haiar-South Dakota Searchlight
State lawmakers advanced a bill 12-1 on Tuesday at the Capitol in Pierre to establish a fund for the cleanup and restoration of McCook Lake, the site of devastating flooding in June.
The amount of funding is to be determined by lawmakers serving on a separate budget committee. The funds would support repairs to the lake’s pumping system, debris removal and future flood mitigation planning. The money would not be available to the owners of 103 homes along the lake that were damaged or destroyed. Some of those homeowners have received federal disaster aid.
Rep. Chris Kassin, R-Vermillion, is the bill’s main sponsor. He said the flood is “one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life.” The lake remains filled with sediment, fallen trees and debris.
McCook Lake Association President Dirk Lohry said the group has spent about $20 million maintaining and improving the lake in the last 20 years. He said that without state funding, the lake will remain unusable due to the sheer volume of debris — estimated at 160,000 cubic yards.
The lake was used as a flood diversion channel to protect the nearby and larger communities of North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes, which intensified damage to the lake from the record amount of water that came down the Big Sioux River.
“The lake was sacrificed,” Lohry said, “to be able to protect the business district and Dakota Dunes from those floods.”
The diversion plan was developed in 1977 when there was less development around the lake and the record crest of the Big Sioux was lower.
The state Bureau of Finance and Management opposed the bill. Duncan Koch, representing the bureau, said the state’s emergency and disaster fund and federal assistance should be the primary sources of aid. He said the state has spent about $3.4 million on flood preparations and recovery. The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave victims in Union County, which includes McCook Lake, $3.5 million to cover portions of their losses.
Koch cautioned that creating a fund for McCook Lake would set a precedent for other communities affected by natural disasters to seek direct state appropriations.
The debate over the bill occurs as the state anticipates a potential lawsuit. Some McCook Lake residents have formally notified the state of their intent to sue, claiming the flood diversion decisions worsened their damage.