The new pond designed to improve Sioux Center’s environmental impact is taking shape with new paving work.
The 4-acre detention pond in eastern Sioux Center has been designed to detain water from about 145 acres to help improve downstream water quality.
This week, Vander Pol paving crews poured concrete for the forebay area, which will serve as an entry point for water coming to the pond. The forebay is designed to allow sediment and debris to silt out of the water before entering the pond to help water quality downstream. It is paved so it can be cleaned and maintained more easily. The crew has also poured the maintenance road around the pond.
The pond will offer a location for natural recreation, including walking, biking, and catch-and-release fishing, said Sioux Center Utilities Manager Adam Fedders. The pond is not to be used for activities in or on the water.
“The pond has been prepared with some fish habitat and will be stocked with fish from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources sometime in 2024,” Fedders said. “Ledge rock was chosen to be installed around the pond to help prevent erosion and also give people a place to fish from.”
Because the pond is under construction, the city is asking the public to stay out of the area. When it opens to the public, access will be by foot from 11th Street SE. In the future, planners would like to connect Sioux Center’s recreation trail system to this area as well.
Water in the pond will be an average of about 9 feet deep, with some areas as deep as 14 feet, depending on water flow into the pond. Fedders said the pond is designed to have water in it year-round, with stop logs that can be used to adjust the level of the water.
This pond, southwest of Sioux Center Health and northwest of the Woodbridge development, is being paid for with $1 million from the State Revolving Fund, $100,000 in Water Quality Initiative funds, and local stormwater utility funds.
