The early yearsMarch 17, 1933: Connecticut General Life Insurance Company enters in to an easement agreement with the State of South Dakota, granting "the right to build and construct an artificial lake which will flood with water following described land. . . "Thus began the birth of Lake Dimock".
At the same time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was diligently trying to get this country out of the great depression. By stimulating local economies with federal projects and funds, Roosevelt was able to create an employment atmosphere which led to the survival of local communities. The WPA, or Works Project Administration, was Dimock Lake's foundation.Water flowed from the North and South forks of Twelve Mile Creek meeting at a point which became the logical location for the lake.
About 50 local farmers were hired, along with their teams of horses to begin the construction. Farmers struggling with $.06 per bushel oats and $.25 corn were grateful for the work that lasted two to three years. The prevailing wage in the '30's was $1 per day. It was also not uncommon to clean barns with a pitch fork, horse and wagon and be paid $.10 per load.
In 1933, Hutchinson county loaned a caterpillar, which was used to pull an elevator grader, which provided the dirt excavation for the dike. The dirt was conveyed onto wagons pulled by a team of horses. Each load of dirt was dumped in an area designated by the foreman, and another team of horses would level it with a dirt scraper.
It's unclear whether there was an engineer "on site" to check dirt compaction, calculate slopes, project volume . . . however it could be assumed that some experts were present because of the dam's longevity. Upon completion, horses and wagons were again called up to deliver field rock. The field rock was hand placed along the entire dike area to prevent erosion.
Because of the hardships of the time, one of the stories relayed was the work was slowing down and the fear was that the project was near completion. Some days the workers would hand load and haul rock from point A to point B, and then the following day, move the rock back to the original position. The construction cost of the project is unknown.
Over 50 years of use
From 1933 to 1984, the area was enjoyed by the public as a recreation area for families and sportsmen, with fishing and picnics.
Disaster Strikes
The disastrous breaking of the dam in 1984 could be blamed on two occurrences where heavy rainfalls caused the North and South forks of Twelve Mile Creek to swell out of it's banks. Both times water ran over the top of the dike, cutting away years of work and community recreation. In June, 1984, the second "flood" of water cut a 150 foot section in the wall of the dike, causing the lake to breach, pouring tons of water into the low lands below.
Dimock Lake II
From 1984 to 1991, local community members stayed in contact with the State of South Dakota about rebuilding. However, the state was having tremendous management problems with other WPA dams and a calculated and cautious approach was taken concerning reconstruction of Lake Dimock.
Construction of a lake for employment purposes is quite different than construction for safety and liability prevention in the 1990s.Once approved by the state, items such as water permits, environmental impact, class III zoning ordinances, state and federal corporate filings, engineering studies, compaction studies, bid bonds, performance bond. . . became the standards in the lake reconstruction.
From the summer of 1991. through the dam's completion in December of 1992, nearly 250,000 cubic yards of dirt were removed from the lake bed. About 12,400,000 pounds of rock were placed along the dike and shoreline. Four to six man construction crews were turned loose with their gigantic dirt scrapers, and within a matter of months, a end to a seven-year project was visible.
Through 1994, about $404,000 had been allocated and spent on the reconstruction of Lake Dimock. Project funding was through support of the local community, the James River Water Development, and the Department of Game, Fish, and Parks. A funding mechanism known as Dingle-Johnson funds accounted for 75 percent of the total expenditures. These funds are raised through taxation of sportsmen on such items as licenses, and fishing and hunting gear. The fund is distributed by GF&P toward feasible community projects. Through management of these funds, cooperation between organization becomes the real success story. (Pat Bowar, 1994).
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