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Five Island Lake

• Restoration Project
• Lake History
• Restoration Goals
• Accomplishments
• How Dredging Works
• Reference Map
• Tribute

Lake History

Five Island Lake is located on the north side of the town of Emmetsburg, Iowa, in Palo Alto County, which is in the northwest corner of the state.

When the last glacier covering Iowa receded 12,500 years ago, it left indentations in the earths surface that eventually became lakes. Northwest Iowa has many of these clefts in its surface which form a chain of prairie pothole lakes. These lakes are characterized by shallowness because of the sediment left in the lake bed by the departing glacier.

Five Island Lake in Palo Alto County, Iowa – five miles long and ½ mile wide – is one of these glacial lakes. This body of water covers 1,000 acres and has a watershed of 8,000 acres. Its south 90 acres are within the city limits of Emmetsburg and are partially separated from the upper 900 acres by a railroad trestle built across the lake in 1890.