Lake Management Plan

by R.D. Gainar, CEBS
LMC Chairman

For those of you who were unable to attend the Lake Depth Control Sub-Committee meeting on October 28, 2013 describing the Dredge Plan, you also missed a presentation and discussion of our Lake Management Plan. The following are highlights of the Lake Management Plan:

The first step of the Plan involved reorganizing the Lake Management Committee into separate groups to allow more residents to participate and to focus attention on phosphorus and nutrients, the primary cause of poor water quality. The heart of our Lake Management Plan to improve water quality involves the work of three committees. The Lake Level Control Sub-Committee’s focus is on phosphorus that is internally released in our lake while the Lake Sediment/Nutrient Control Sub-Committee’s focus is on phosphorus transported into our lake from the watershed. A third committee, the Lake Depth Improvement Sub-Committee, in addition to dredging our shallow coves, will excavate sediment traps in the back of major coves. These traps will limit the amount of sediment from coming into the lake.

A major component of the Lake Management Plan is to organize a “clean up your own backyard” campaign to educate residents on things they can do to prevent nutrients from entering the lake. It is unreasonable to request nutrient limiting actions outside our community unless we are first willing to do all we can to limit transport of nutrients into our lake from our own properties surrounding the lake. Another component of this Plan is to organize a campaign to lobby our elected state and federal leaders in support of bills that seek to curb fertilizer runoff in our watershed, improve water quality and nutrient management of agricultural operations, and other legislation such as Ohio Senate Bill 150. You will hear more about these programs this summer.

Our lake water-testing program will continue providing valuable data such as phosphorus, dissolved oxygen and clarity measurements to our consultants and committees so they may continue to made responsible, evidenced-based decisions. Testing for algal toxins will resume again next summer as these threats continue to plague all lakes in Ohio.

I think you will agree that much has been accomplished in the short time these Lake Management Committees have been working. However, there is much to do. So if you would like to learn about your lake and participate in its improvements, you are encouraged to join your Lake Management Committee.