Kim Fundingsland/MDN The dredge used to remove nutrient laden sediment from Power Lake is moored on the southern edge of the lake. The dredge has been in use since 2017.

POWERS LAKE – In 2017 a dredge began operation on Powers Lake with the ambitious goal of cleaning up the water. Years and years of sediment containing high amounts of nutrients had settled into the lake, fueling algae blooms that degraded water quality so much that use of the lake had dropped dramatically.

Hoping to restore what was once a source of pride for the city, the Powers Lake Watershed Project was born. The first order of business was to reduce the amount of nutrients flowing into the lake.

“We did that by installing conservation practices like no-till farming, hayland plantings, installing sediment dams, and grazing systems, to help reduce the nutrient content coming into Powers Lake,” said Kenny MacDonald, Powers Lake Watershed Project. “The water quality coming into the lake has improved over the years we’ve been doing that.”

Following changes to the landscape surrounding the lake, the City of Powers Lake took the bold step of purchasing a dredge for the purpose of removing nutrient-laden sediment from the bottom of Powers Lake.

“The dredge increases the nutrients we can remove from the lake,” explained MacDonald. “It speeds up the natural process of flushing itself out. We’re invested into that, to remove nutrients out of the water. The sediment is very rich in nutrient content.”

Speeding up doesn’t mean a quick process when it comes to improving water quality on a body of water the size of Powers Lake, which covers nearly 1,700 acres. The dredge, which is eight feet wide, operates at a mere quarter-mile per hour when removing roughly 8-12 inches of sediment from the lake bottom. It is also low profile and virtually inoperable in low to moderate wind.

“It’s a big lake. It’ll never be dredged completely. It’s a very slow process,” said MacDonald. “But in a whole day you can get a lot of material out. Every load you can get out, every amount of nutrients you can get out, it’s better today than it was yesterday.”

Two major sources of funding for the project are the Outdoor Heritage Fund and the North Dakota Department of Health 319 program. MacDonald says with those sources the project “couldn’t be done.”

“Some days I feel like you can see improvement and other days it can be questioned,” said MacDonald when asked about visible progress.

The OHF contributed $220,000 to the project over 10 years from 2017-2027. Dredging began in 2017 with an ambitious goal of removing 15,000 cubic feet of sediment per year. In the first four years of dredging 45,624 cubic yards of sediment were removed, an average of 11,406 per year.

“Like anything, when things go good it’s great. When you have breakdowns it’s frustrating,” remarked MacDonald.

The sediment picked up by the dredge is pumped into a flex pipe that floats on top of the water and leads to an open pit, or cell, on shore. It is there that sediment from the lake bottom is dumped and sits there over the winter months to drain. Some of the sediment is sold as fertilizer.

“It’s a very high nutrient fertilizer with a lot of nitrogen in it,” said MacDonald. “The phosphorus and potassium content is still real high.”

From 2017-2020 it is estimated that 78,170 pounds of phosphate and 37,229 pounds of nitrogen have been removed from Powers Lake. A kid’s fishing derby held on the lake this year had 108 participants who caught more than 120 northern pike from the 5-9 foot deep lake. While such events are encouraging, perhaps even more so is the results of annual water quality testing.

“Our water quality results have improved, showing it’s going in the right direction,” said MacDonald. “Every year we see improvement. It shows we are doing something.”