By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Of all the twists during the flooding this year, one that stands out is that the recurrent flooding of the Missouri River might well be killing two local recreational lakes.

That is because as floodwaters recede, they leave behind silt, which is filling in both Lake Contrary and Sugar Lake.

Western District Buchanan County Commissioner Ron Hook says both lakes have been silting in since the 1993 flood, with the 2011 and 2019 floods really harming the lakes. Both must be dredged, according to Hook, but dredging is expensive.

“So, the bottom of the lake is obviously rising so there is very little water level in there due to all the flooding and the federal government and the state are just not helping out on anything and they expect the counties to take care of all that,” Hook tells St. Joseph Post. “We just don’t have the funding. We don’t have the money.”

Hook worries about the viability of both Lake Contrary and Sugar Lake.

“Lake Contrary is just an iconic lake from way back when they had the amusement park down there,” Hook says. “People that live along there just don’t want to see that lake disappear into a wetland.”

Hook says since Contrary Creek no longer feeds Lake Contrary, it relies on rainwater and seepage from the Missouri River, with too little water flowing into lake and too much silt being dumped into it.