Posted on April 30, 2025
NORTH SIOUX CITY, South Dakota – Progress is underway to clean out McCook Lake after last year’s historic flooding.
The project is expected to cost a little over $1 million, with North Sioux City contractor Three Oaks Inc. tackling the dredging.
According to South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks, the lake clean up will begin May 12th using excavators along Northshore Drive and a barge on the water.
Officials said the project will take a couple months to complete due to the amount of materials in McCook Lake.
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“The plan is in the contract to remove 20,000 cubic yards of material, so debris and sediment. That’s based off of information and in surveys gathered in order to establish a lake bottom elevation that would eliminate hazards for lake users in the primary areas where that sediment and debris entered the lake,” said Kip Rounds, the Regional Wildlife Supervisor with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
The information was gathered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks.
“It’s a unique project just with the nature of McCook Lake and what this project is going to be, so high priority project and we’re happy to get it rolling here in a few weeks,” said Rounds.
Contractors are expected to complete dredging McCook Lake by August 1st at the latest.
