Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Buchanan County officials hope to know by the end of this year if they can move forward on decades-long discussions of dredging Lake Contrary and restoring it as a recreational lake.
A permit to dredge Lake Contrary is expected to be approved or denied by the U.S. Corps of Engineers now that soil samples have been collected from the lakebed for testing, a lengthy process that concluded Aug. 17, according to Buchanan County Western District Commissioner Ron Hook.
“This is the furthest we’ve been in this process,” he said. “So if we can get something by the end of this year of whether we’re permitted to do it or not, that would really help.”
Engineering consultants with Terracon, a KC-based firm, were tasked with drilling 30 feet at dozens of locations across the lake to collect samples for the Corps of Engineers to evaluate.
Despite a breakdown of equipment that caused delays, Hook said engineers were able to submit more the double the requested amount to ensure results are conclusive one way or another.
“The (Corps) wanted 17 different plots throughout the lakebed to test the soil; every five feet, they pulled up soil samples,” Hook said. “We wanted to make sure that the whole lakebed was covered. So we did 34 of them.”
If a dredging permit is issued, Hook said the 300-acre lake will require multiple rounds of dredging in different locations over a three or four-year period simply due to its size.
“You can do about 100 acres of dredging per year,” he said.
At the same time, a timeline for a second round of weed spraying is expected to be determined in the coming months to prepare the lake for potential dredging, if authorized by the Corps.
The latest plans call for dredging the lake to approximately 8 feet, but 10 feet in certain areas could be possible.
“We just want it to be available for recreational boating, fishing, swimming, a recreational lake,” Hook said.
The latest development comes after more than a year of work that intensified last summer on restoring the once-great oxbow lake following decades of attempts by supporters and the county.
In its heyday in the early 1900s, Lake Contrary was an iconic recreational destination that featured a theme park with amusement rides, a casino, dance halls and sporting venues. At its peak, the lake was reportedly 10 miles long, quarter of a mile wide and 40 feet deep, large enough to support upwards of 100 boats.
As oxbow lakes naturally do over time, silt built-up from river flooding and creeks has lowered its depth exponentially despite decades of support from many residents, including financing costly underground water pumps.
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