Dickinson County, IA (KICD) — Dickinson County Emergency management Director Mike Ehret says despite a reprieve in the rain, they’re recommending people stay out of the water due to wastewater discharges into the Iowa Great Lakes, and many county roads also remain closed Sunday morning.

The Iowa Great Lakes Sanitary Sewer system was already overloaded before this weekend’s deluge, and there were more instances where overloads caused raw sewage to be dumped into the lake.  System CEO Steve Anderson says his crew used tanker trucks to relieve some of the overload, but with the massive rains that wasn’t enough.  Anderson says several manhole covers were lifted during during Friday night’s flood, and the sound of sump pumps could be heard.  Door to door checks are being conducted to find those illegal hookups and the fine is One thousand dollars per day.  The Iowa DNR tells KICD News Dickinson County is not unique, and emergency discharges have been made in O’Brien, Osceola, Lyon, and Sioux Counties in addition to Spencer, where the treatment plant is out of order.

Not only is swimming not recommended, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources put out a statement early this weekend saying that due to the high water levels boating is not recommended either.

Highway 9 between Spirit Lake and Lake Park remains closed at the Little Sioux River yet Sunday morning.  Ehret says many county roads are also impasse, and reminds the public not to drive through water or around barricades.

Ehret will be on the air with us at noon with an update.

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And with so many residents of Spirit Lake cleaning their basements and discarding items such as wet carpet, they are out of extra trash receptacles.  They have ordered more, but say residents are free to contact private garbage haulers to arrange dumpsters.