Posted on September 17, 2025
SULLIVAN, Ind. — A local lake has begun dredging for the first time in over 65 years.
To help improve the water and local wildlife, Sullivan Lake is being dredged for the first time since it opened in 1958, even though officials recommend it be dredged every 15 years.
Project Manager Chris Egge said dredging is the process of removing the built-up sediment at the bottom of the lake. The process of dredging includes taking water and sediment from the lake and pumping it into a sediment basin.
That sediment will then be separated from the water, and then the clean water will be pumped back into the lake.
Egge said the process of dredging will be a multi-year project and will not be completed all at once.
“We are going to move at the speed of funding. So, in phase one, we are doing the marina cove, and then we will probably wrap around the bend to the public beach area. Then, as we get more funding, we will continue to progress,” said Egge. “So, the initial investments of pipe purchase and sediment basin construction have already been done. Now it’s just a matter of maintaining the basin as we fill it.”
Other than improving the lake’s ecosystem, Egge said people enjoying the lake will also not feel a slimy feeling at the bottom of their feet after dredging.
