Dutch Fork Lake will be restored nearly five years after flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan turned the popular Donegal Township fishing hole into a desolate field.
The state announced Thursday it will funnel $4 million to reconstruct the dam's spillway and build a protective covering for the embankment.
Local and state government officials for years have worked unsuccessfully to find funding to rebuild the 91-acre lake.
This state grant will put the lake restoration on a fast track, said state Rep. Peter J. Daley, D-California, although the project still needs another $500,000 for clearing brush and trees that have taken over the lake bed. He was not sure when work will begin to rebuild the spillway.
"It makes it much more feasible that it will happen shortly," Daley said.
The remnants of Ivan flooded the region in September 2004 and caused serious damage to the lake's emergency spillway. Dutch Fork was drained a few months later because of safety concerns, upsetting many locals who fished or boated at the lake.
"Every day, we get calls about Dutch Fork," Daley said. "It was such a recreational center, and it became a part of people's lives."
The state also issued a $1.8 million grant to install anchors and upgrade the dam impoundment at Canonsburg Lake. State Rep. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, said the money also might be used to build a control valve for emergency releases at the lake in Peters and North Strabane townships.
Solobay said the project could help free up $4.7 million in federal money for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge and perform other work to "revitalize the lake."
The money for the work on Dutch Fork and Canonsburg lakes is coming from the state Department of Community and Economic Development's H2O grant program. The H2O grant provides money for construction, expansion or rehabilitation of water supply, sewage or storm water systems.