The Lost Lake RCD owns and manages an 88-acre Lost Lake. The lake was formed in the mid 1960s as the cornerstone recreational asset of the original real estate development, "Lost Nation Woodland Homesteads". For the first eight or so years of its existence, the lake was approximately half of its current acreage. Then, around 1972, the lake's current dam and spillway were built, and the original earthen dam and spillway were then dismantled and breached, forming the current 88-acre lake which is fed by two feeder streams (Babbling Brook and Clear Creek). The "peninsula" which is located northeast of the West Beach area is what remains of the original dam/spillway. Interestingly, the original developers had also hoped and planned to enlarge the lake yet one additional time, building yet another dam/spillway further downstream to the northwest, flooding what is now the campground area and property adjacent to the Lost Nation Golf Course, which was, at that time, owned by the real estate developers and a integral part of the "Lost Nation Woodland Homesteads" community.

 

In the 1980s, the RCD, as a governmental taxing body, was formed to gather and provide enlarged funding for improved management of the lake. We pursue lake viability through the EPA grant programs in conjunction

with private grant programs. These programs seek to partner with
government/private bodies to reduce the silt and pollutant
contributions to the lake through planning and administration of
best land-use practices, contributory stream management and
stabilization and natural habitat wildlife management.

In this manner, we can amplify the effects of taxpayer dollars by

capitalizing on the "free money" from the grants. Lake management activities and practices provided by the RCD include:

 

• professional contracted lake management consultations

• beach water testing per Illinois Department of Health

• silt management / dredging operations

• dam/spillway maintenance

• shoreline stabilization programs

• fish stocking

• carp and shad reduction programs

• boat rack and boat dock construction/maintenance

 

Electroshocking Surveys

With the formation of the RCD also arrived a relationship with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The IDNR has been very kind and generous over the years in providing their "electroshocking" services of the lake to scientifically study the quantity and quality of the lake's fish population. From these surveys, fish management programs, including fish stocking recommendations, can be intelligently developed and implemented.

 

2019 JadEco Lake Electroshocking Survey

2017 JadEco Lake Electroshocking Survey

2015 IDNR Lake Electroshocking Survey

2011 IDNR Lake Electroshocking Survey

2009 IDNR Lake Electroshocking Survey

2007 IDNR Lake Electroshocking Survey

2006 IDNR Lake Electroshocking Survey

2004 IDNR Lake Electroshocking Survey

2002 IDNR Lake Electroshocking Survey

 

 

Fish Stocking

Assisted volunteer efforts, the RCD provides approximately $3000 annually toward fish stocking of Lost Lake. Below are historical fish stocking data going back to 1985.