Flooding fallout dampens tourism at popular Iowa summer hotspot

Juli Redig has been coming to the Iowa Great Lakes from Minnesota since she was the age of her grandchildren.

“They're now seven, eight and ten, so it’s been 38 years,” Redig said. “We get together and make memories.”

They visit Arnolds Park where very few boats are out on the water due to a 5 mph rule to preserve the shoreline. The region saw a deluge of rain through the end of June and into early July, which is impacting vacations and tourism.

“It was like 25 inches of rain in a couple of weeks. The ground was so saturated that we just couldn't keep up,” Kiley Zankowski, Tourism Director for Vacation Okoboji , said. “And the water was coming from north of us. So it's just a lot of water at once.”

Zankowski estimated that flooding washed away tourism business by 40-60%. Usually the area sees an annual boost of $300 million from tourism.

“It's had a huge economic impact in our boating industry, our marinas and our hotels," Zankowski said. “We're a very seasonal community. So, we definitely depend on tourists coming here. It's been a pretty big hit, especially hitting around the biggest holiday of the summer — the Fourth of July."

Zankowski said some hotel occupancy rates were cut in half during the recent holiday.

The CEO of Historic Arnolds Park Inc ., Jon Pausley, reported a mixed bag this season. Amusement park numbers have fallen from previous years, mainly due to poor weather throughout June, even before boating restrictions were put into place.

“We are fortunate; while we had a large volume of water come through, we are dealing with mild inconveniences,” Pausley said. “Perspective is easy right now because we have had so many people in our region have it much more difficult.”

Pausley added that even though the region won’t set attendance records this year, there are still other attractions, including concerts, museums and restaurants.

“It is our goal this summer to give tourists, guests and our locals a sense of normalcy,” he said. “We want to make sure people continue to smile and make memories.”

Zankowski also remained optimistic as water levels and water quality continued to improve.

“People will come because they don’t want to miss an Okoboji summer,” Zankowski said. "We really want to let them know that we're open and there's so much to do, there's so much to do off of the water and even on the water still."

Redig still made the most of her family’s vacation. They brought their pontoon boat to enjoy the water slowly, and they also plan to spend more time at the Barefoot Bar , a well-known Iowa Great Lakes social hangout.

“Okoboji is a great place to vacation,” she said.