A detention pond will be built on the east side of Sioux Center this year, benefitting the community and a nearby waterway.
The City Council approved a construction bid for the 4-acre detention pond between the Meadow Creek residential area and the Woodbridge area, just southwest of Sioux Center Health. Completion of the pond is slated for October 2023.
Assistant Utilities Manager Adam Fedders says the pond will improve water quality and the impacts of stormwater runoff, and it will also be a community attraction adding to quality of life.
Fedders told the council that the bid includes constructing the pond with an average depth of 9 feet. A 12-foot paved maintenance path will encircle the pond, where people will be able to walk. Plans call for the pond to be stocked with fish, and fishing will be allowed from the shore of the pond. No boats or swimming will be allowed.
Sioux Center has $1.5 million in grant dollars available for this project plus $100,000 of water quality urban infrastructure funding from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, which will cover almost all of the project. The $1.5 million grant was available because Sioux Center borrowed from the State Revolving Fund to build the new wastewater treatment plant, then staff applied for a competitive grant that focuses on returning a portion of interest paid to communities to create stormwater quality improvement projects like this pond.
When complete, the pond will detain storm water for about 145 acres mainly west of it. This will allow for natural removal of nutrients and silt before the water flows into the stream to the southeast. To help remove the silt, the pond design includes an initial smaller paved detention area, called a forebay, where silt can collect and be removed regularly. This will benefit pond maintenance and quality.
