Money and Lakes
On it's good days, Clear Lake is one of North Iowa's top draws when it comes to sucking up tourism dollars.
"We all have boats and we all like camping so we just decided it's cheap and good entertainment," Rachel Highfill who was visiting from Omaha, NE tells KIMT Newschannel 3.
Up until now, Clear Lake hasn't had much help from the state.
Most of the money that's been used to clean it up has come from federal grants.
But now, there's a new resource for lake lovers.
"I think we just realized that in order to continue to develop the North Iowa area, to recruit people here, to create good jobs, we have to protect our assets like Clear Lake," Representative Bill Schikel tells KIMT Newschannel 3.
And that's where the new state program fits in.
And even though the total restoration of Clear Lake will take about 20 million dollars--- every little bit helps.
"Every time we get a wetland restoration installed or every time we do another one of those filtration systems, that's less contaminants that are getting into Clear Lake," David Knoll of the CLEAR Project tells KIMT Newschannel 3.
And less contaminants, means more tourists and more dollars coming into the area.
"Yeah, I think we're planning next year too. I think it'll be an annual thing," Highfill said.
Local groups say there are rules about how much money can be awarded.
The most any one project could get is about $500,000.
In 2007 Clear Lake will have another federally funded project that will help restore the watershed.
August 9, 2005 4:11 PM | Category: Politics