(La Porte, IN) - The City of La Porte is able to lower Pine and Stone lakes again.  Last week, a clog in a 20 foot wide channel below Weller Avenue was removed to allow the lakes to drain when the city activates a pump to start a gravity drain to keep all of the lake levels at bay.

La Porte Waste Water Department Superintendent Jerry Jackson said there was a chunk of concrete discovered at the bottom of the channel below the Weller Avenue bridge.  He said the concrete probably came from the Weller Avenue bridge many years ago and sticks along with sediment started building up on the concrete block until completely plugging the channel.

Once the 20 foot wide channel was unclogged, Jackson said the water started gushing into Lily Lake where water drains from Stone Lake and Pine Lake.  He said the level of Lily Lake rose about nine inches in four hours after the blockage was removed.  “That’s a lot of water.  It was very noticeable,” Jackson said.  He said the water level on Stone Lake and Pine Lake probably came down just a few inches since they’re much larger in size than Lily Lake.

The gravity drain was installed in the late 1990's to help prevent flooding on the lakes.