Parks superintendent wins board approval to apply for Lake and River Enhancement grant for West Boggs south basin

Davies County commissioners voted Jan. 28 to approve a Lake and River Enhancement grant application for the south basin at West Boggs Park and to provide a $25,000 match from the park's lake enhancement fund.

Nathan Rimm, superintendent of the Davies County Parks Department, told the board the south basin and an upstream basin built in the early 1990s have filled with silt from roughly 8,400 acres of primarily agricultural drainage. Rimm said high nutrient loads, principally phosphorus from agricultural runoff, have produced recurring algae blooms that at times force early seasonal closures of the lake. The county has tested the water and performed pilot enzyme treatments; Rimm said the enzyme treatment produced marked short-term improvements in one basin last year.

Rimm said the grant request would focus on engineering and an initial dredging for the south basin. He told commissioners the grant program allows a maximum request of $100,000 and that the parks department would use $25,000 from the lake enhancement fund as the required local match. Rimm said the $125,000 package would cover approximately $38,000 for engineering and about $87,000 for dredging activity up front; full dredging of both basins would be far costlier and likely require a conservancy district or larger long-term funding approach.

The board approved the application and the $25,000 match, and commissioners invited Rimm to bring the board on a site visit to view the basins and related projects. Rimm said a grant decision should be known by June.