WEST BAY DREDGING by Ralph Christensen

The West Bay Home Owners Association has successfully completed the dredging of West Bay on Diamond Lake. First, the West Bay Home Owners Association would like to thank the Diamond Lake Improvement Association, Tomlinson Black Real Estate and other private donors for their donations in this project. These donations were used to off-set the costs incurred due to delays in the dredging. As a result of these delays it cost an additional $10,000.00 for the lease of the dredge, increased pump and pipe rental and increased costs for diesel fuel.

We did not get the results we anticipated, but we still feel the project was a success. The results would have been much greater if we had been able to complete the dredging earlier in the spring with high water. We were able to obtain substantial benefits for the bay and the lake. This was accomplished without causing any harm to the lake. Some of the benefits that have been observed are:

1. Removal of tons of sediment, saw dust and bark from the bay

2. Spring flows in the bay have increased greatly since the dredging.

• This has been demonstrated in the bay by the observation of spring flows under the ice as compared to last winter, which benefits the entire lake.

3. The removal of this material has and will benefit aquatic life and wildlife in the bay and in the lake.

4. This activity on the bay has helped to develop a close community of friends with common goals and objectives.

All of us in the bay essentially lost an entire summer of fun on the lake to complete this project. The West Bay Home Owners Association considers the dredging a success which benefits the bay as well as the entire lake.