Among other improvements, the dredging project increased the depth of the bay from an average of 2 to 3 feet, to an average of 5 and 6 feet. Talk to some of the residents living close to the new Tranquility Bay on Big Stone Lake. You will hear things like "we don’t have to live with the odor coming from the bay before the dredging took place, it got so bad we could hardly stand the smell coming from the mud being continuously stirred up by the rough fish", and "the mosquitoes weren’t nearly as bad this summer now that the bay is deeper there seems to be more water movement and less mosquitoes", and "it’s going to be nice to see game fish back in the bay, there has been nothing but rough fish in there for years".

The Dalsin’s appear to welcome fishermen and women in the bay to enjoy the new deeper, unobstructed waters of the bay, as long as they don’t disrupt the shoreline and respect the fact that the property surrounding the bay is private.

As an added phase to the restoration, rocks and boulders placed in the inland part of the bay prior to the Dalsin’s purchase of the property, was to be moved to a central location to protect boats from hitting the rocks. There are approximately 75 of these rock spread throughout that area of the bay (just below the water line). Unfortunately, the dredge equipment was unable to address this problem.

Mr. Dalsin brought in a track hoe to attempt to correct this condition. Through a miscommunication, the track hoe operator assumed he needed to remove the materials around the rocks before moving the rocks, and stored this material on the shoreline during the rock removal process. Apparently, officers of the local lake association contacted governmental offices with rumors that Mr. Dalsin was filling-in the bay and performing other improper activities. They successfully got this final phase of the project shut down. Therefore, boating in the bay should be done with extreme caution, as these rocks could cause a certain degree of danger.

The pictures below illustrate the reclamation of the banks and shoreline along the bay.

Mr. Dalsin plans to complete the reclamation of all the shoreline in the bay, including the inlet area, before winter.