Rock Lake is a natural drainage lake – there are a few inlets and one outlet. In 1865, a mill dam was constructed for the purposes of hydraulic power production. This mill ceased operation in 1933 and the mill property was sold to the City of Lake Mills in 1935. In 1945, the location of the dam was moved to the outlet of the millpond where it remains today. Over the years, there were some minor changes made to minimum and maximum water levels for different times of the year. The water levels were determined by the Department of Natural Resources who took into account fish management, recreation, and shoreline erosion.
The dam consists of 7 boards that are each about 4 feet long and 6 inches wide. The bottom board has never been taken out because it is too hard to extract due to the force of the water. That bottom board sits in a concrete base so that about 3 inches of the board is in the water path. Besides the dam, the other water flow confinement is the culvert that is just downstream from the dam. This culvert is 4 feet in diameter.
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