Posted on May 18, 2026
By Travis Chinn
WAHPETON, Iowa (KCAU) — After years of fundraising and months of dredging, Turtle Lake in the Iowa Great Lakes is finally open again to the public.
Because of silt built up over the years, the depth of Turtle Lake had dropped to 1-2 feet, making it almost unusable.
Residents in and around the lake started fundraising to raise the money it would take to dredge Turtle Lake.
“It took us about a year and a half total from the time we started raising funds to today. We raised around $800,000, and then we raised it about another $100,000. So about $900,000 we’ve put into Turtle Lake,” said Tim Ireland, Organizer for Save Turtle Lake.
Dredging started last fall and was finished a few weeks ago.
A total of 40,000 cubic yards of gunk was removed from the lake.
“It was about two feet deep, and now it, I went back and measured all of it, and it’s between five and a half and seven feet deep,” added Ireland.
On Thursday morning, the barrier was removed, and Turtle Lake was back open for business.
“We’re super happy. It’s good for all the people of Dickinson County, it’s good for all our tourists. It’s good for everybody that lives on it and uses it all the time. It’s really good for the wildlife,” said Ireland.
But the dredging isn’t complete, the next step is to dredge “Paddler’s Path,” a series of canals that come off of Turtle Lake and is popular with kayakers and fishermen.
“It’s the heart of the system. If we don’t get this cleaned out, it will choke shut, and then we won’t have all the water flow that we need.” Said Ireland, “It’s bad for people, it’s bad for animals, and everything because the water becomes stagnant. The time to act is now.”
The total cost to dredge out Paddler’s Path is $800,000. That will be paid through donations and grants.
The goal is to have the Paddler’s Path done midway through this Summer.
