A developer and the City of Omaha will have to dig a little deeper, literally, to make Omaha's newest fishing lake just that -- fishable.

And the extra cost of deepening a 60-acre lake at 192nd Street and West Dodge Road does not bode well for fishing at some of the other 28 flood-control lakes that the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District proposes to build.

According to the NRD, about $250,000 is being spent to make fishing possible at this lake because the City of Omaha is planning a major park along the lake's shoreline.

The money for the fishing project is coming from a state grant, the company developing land along the lake, and the city.

For most of the other lakes proposed, it's unlikely that there will be a similar effort to find funding, said Paul Woodward, Papio NRD project manager.

Nor should people expect the NRD, which is proposing to spend $300 million buying land and building the dams, to set aside money for making significant fishing improvements at those lakes. The NRD generally limits its spending to dam construction, Woodward said.

Whether a lake makes for good fishing depends on the depth of the water, which is determined by the contours of the land.

In the case of this lake, the land on either side of the creek valley sloped too gradually toward the creek to create sufficient depth, said Steve Scarpello, Omaha parks director. Some of the money will go toward excavating dirt near the shoreline to deepen the water level.

The NRD, Woodward said, does not plan to deepen all the other lakes to accommodate fishing. Nor does the district plan to install boat ramps.

Based on the natural contours of the land, the lake at 192nd Street and West Dodge Road would have been about 5 to 6 feet deep, Woodward said. When the work is done, the lake should be about 9 or 10 feet deep, he said.

Keith Hurley, fisheries biologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, said the lake will be stocked with fish that are suitable for a small lake -- bluegill, catfish and bass.

The water quality should be "outstanding," he said, because of the type of soil in the region. He likened it to water in Standing Bear and Zorinsky Lakes.

Construction of the lake is expected to cost about $8 million, Woodward said, with the NRD bearing most of that cost.

Dial Realty Development Corp. is contributing $1.6 million toward lake construction. Additionally, it will provide a share of the money for deepening the lake.

The state is providing more than $200,000 to build a boat ramp, parking lot, jetties to protect the ramp and scouring out the lake. A state grant will underwrite most of the city's costs.