Location: Emmet County
Timeline: Completed August 2009
Partners: Iowa DNR
Funding: Iowa DNR, North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant, Ducks Unlimited

Project Highlights:

Four Mile Lake is a 215 acre marsh on a 691 acre State Wildlife Management Area. Monitoring of the lake by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources prior to restoration confirmed that the lake had little to no aquatic plant growth, exhibited extremely poor water quality, and was dominated by rough fish. The DNR did not have the capability to remove high water in the lake so it remained stagnant, perpetuating poor conditions. 

Ducks Unlimited partnered with the DNR to improve the waterfowl habitat of the lake. Construction crews installed water control structures and enhanced water conveyance systems to improve the drawdown management capability on the lake. In spring 2009 the DNR was able to begin management activities and temporarily dewatered the lake. 

The water drawdown resulted in major improvement in water quality, robust stands of aquatic plants, and significant increase in waterfowl and other migratory bird use. 

The Four Mile Lake restoration project is part of DU's Living Lakes Initiative.