Habitat Enhancement
Lake Red Rock Fish Habitat Enhancement Project
An opportunity to enhance fish habitat, angler success, local economic benefits, and quality of life experiences.
BACKGROUND
Red Rock Reservoir is Iowa’s largest lake and a popular fishing destination for over 700,000 residents of Central Iowa. Lake Red Rock is best known for its white crappie, white bass, and catfish fisheries; however, largemouth bass and walleyes are also popular.
Lake Red Rock is a man-made reservoir that exhibits several fish habitat challenges: negative watershed contributions, sedimentation, lack of natural woody habitat deposition, reduced backwaters, unstable water levels, and lack of vegetation in shallow water zones all affect the quality of habitat for fish and other aquatic life.
A long-term, multi-pronged approach is necessary to improve fish habitat in Lake Red Rock.
PROJECT
Featureless Lake Bottom
The US Army Corps of Engineers, Iowa Department of Natural Resources – Fisheries Bureau, Red Rock Lake Association, and other local partners are launching an effort to enhance fish populations in Lake Red Rock.
The Iowa DNR fisheries biologists believe that the Lake Red Rock fisheries, especially the crappie fishery, could be substantially improved with the placement of additional habitat structures.
This partnership intends to improve fish habitats and angler success in Lake Red Rock, a vastly featureless lake, through the purchase, development, installation, and monitoring of fish habitat structures.
Partners of the project will meet the objectives by installing structures, such as Mossback Fish Habitat or equivalent type products, which mimic submerged structures found in natural lakes.
These structures will be placed at several strategic sites around Lake Red Rock with an initial emphasis in the Competine Creek and Whitebreast Creek branches of Lake Red Rock.
Placement of Structures
FUNDING
Fish Habitat Structures in Place
To fund the fish habitat enhancement project, the partnership will pursue a competitive grant through Friends of Reservoirs (FOR), an affiliate of the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership (RFHP).
The grant requires a 1:1 match of cash or in-kind contributions.
To meet this requirement, the Red Rock Lake Association will seek partner commitments to raise matching funds along with commitments of in-kind contributions that support development of the project.
The cash match will be an important contribution, since the major component of the project will be the purchase of fish habitat structures.
The in-kind match is generated through cash equivalent formulas for agency or volunteer labor, machinery, donated materials, and other logistics associated with the construction and installation of the fish habitat structures.
Mossback Structures Mimic
Natural Features that Attract Fish
BENEFITS
According to the Outdoor Foundation 2021 Outdoor Recreation Trends Report, fishing is the third most popular outdoor activity with 18% or 54.7 million Americans participating; by contrast, 17% bicycle and 16% go camping.
Another study by the American Sportfishing Association in 2020, outlined the economic benefits across the four congressional districts in Iowa. In Districts 2 and 3, the two congressional districts that encompass the Lake Red Rock area, anglers created $179 million in retail sales and 1890 jobs. The study demonstrates that a healthy fishery can provide opportunities for outdoor recreation and contributes positively to the economic vitality of surrounding communities.
Investing in the Lake Red Rock fishery is an investment in your community. A healthy fishery leads to a healthier Lake Red Rock and better angler success, as well as, an increase in recreational visits, improved local economy, and cultural benefits that attract and retain citizens, businesses, and employees to Marion County.