Committee hears McCook Lake contingency fund bill after flood testimony; action deferred

Representatives and local residents urged the House Appropriations Committee to create a contingency fund for McCook Lake on behalf of House Bill 1108, a bill to establish a McCook Lake Contingency Fund and transfer monies to it for restoration and mitigation after a record flood.

Sponsor Representative Chris Casson, District 17, told the committee the June flood was a FEMA‑declared disaster that washed homes and soil into McCook Lake and drastically reduced property values in parts of North Sioux City and the McCook Lake community. “There was a disaster … it was just a tremendous disaster across this whole entire region,” Casson said. He described the bill as a backstop that would allow the state to respond if the scope and cost of cleanup exceed funds available from agencies and federal sources.

Proponents including local lake association leaders and residents told the committee the event was unprecedented and left the lake clogged with roughly 60,000 cubic yards of soil — an amount they equated to thousands of truckloads — and that the lake’s pumping system and piping need repair. Chris Bogenrief, a McCook Lake resident and member of the McCook Lake Association, said about 103 homes were damaged or destroyed and that “21 of those homes have been demolished so far.” Dirk Laurie, president of the McCook Lake Association, said Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) had an RFP out for lake restoration work but had not yet produced a scope; GFP expects bids back by April and potentially to begin construction in June, Laurie said.

Opponents from the Bureau of Finance and Management asked the committee to oppose HB 1108, arguing the state already has an emergency and disaster fund and other state and federal agencies are engaged in cleanup and planning. Doug Koch of BFM said the consolidated water facilities construction program and existing emergency funds provide established processes for projects like this and said voluntary pumping and maintenance historically has been funded by the local association; he also warned that a direct appropriation could set a precedent for other local lake projects to seek state funding.

Committee members asked whether a consolidated water‑program application or other grants would provide timely funding and whether the lake’s state ownership constrained options for local control. BFM staff said the lake could not be converted to private ownership under state water law; members asked GFP to meet with sponsors and report back with the RFP scope and cost estimates. The committee deferred action on HB 1108.