2025 – Lake Management Year In Review

Dave Ernes – Lake Management Committee

As you read this, the recreational season for 2025 is in the rear-view mirror. This article summarizes the main points related to the past season.

As with past years, the lake experienced numerous weather-related impacts. We started the season cooler than normal. This was a benefit, as the cooler water temperatures delayed the rapid growth of blue-green algae until mid-July, the latest that we have seen in recent years. The rains then reappeared, driving the blooms and our efforts to control them. Mother Nature then decided that she was not done with us and hit us again with a cold snap in late August and early September, which caused the lake to turn-over early, driving a second spike in algae after the recreational season had ended.

Overall, we have continued our year-over-year trend of controlling the release of toxins by controlling algal blooms. This is the primary focus of our efforts each year. Below are listed a brief overview of the various Lake Management activities.

Lake Testing. We continue to have our experts sample within the lake and in the watershed to understand the trends in the nutrients that drive the algal blooms. The watershed saw an increase in the phosphorous levels after past year’s trends had showed a decrease year-over-year. It is not clear where this rise originated. In the lake, the nutrient levels varied during the season, likely a result of the impact of the weather. This in-lake nutrient cycling continues to be the most dominant near-term driver of  algal blooms. We also did testing of Flame Lake. The data indicated much lower nutrient levels than the main lake. The hand-held probe continued to be a valuable addition to our toolkit.

Lake Treatments: As mentioned above, we did not need the algaecide treatments until mid-July. However, conditions still required one and a half lake treatments for the season. We continue to monitor the level of copper to insure that it does not negatively impact the aquatic life.

Ultrasonic Buoys: This was the second season where we evaluated this technology in hopes that it could be used to replace the algaecide treatments. Working with the vendor, we re-located the buoys this season based on their recommendations. Unfortunately, we still did not see the kind of results that would suggest that they would be effective for our lake.

Grant Opportunities: We continued our efforts to seek outside funding to assist in some of the mitigation efforts to reduce the nutrient load in the lake. Working with an outside engineering firm, we completed a document called a “Non-Point Source Implementation Strategy” or NPS-IS. The document was approved by the Ohio EPA,, giving us the ability to seek funding opportunities under EPA Section 319, which would otherwise be unavailable to us. The document has a project near Plum Creek which we plan on submitting in early 2026 for approval. We continue to look for other funding opportunities as they come up. (More will be shared on this accomplishment at the Annual Meeting.)

Overall, we had a good year on the lake. The algal blooms were delayed until later in the year. We continued to control the release of toxins in the lake, even with the unusual weather impacts. We are currently working on the plans for 2026.

Be Lake Responsible