Dear Friends and Residents of Roaming Shores:

My name is Marty Hilovsky and I’m President of EnviroScience, a Stow Ohio environmental consulting firm. For the past ten years I’ve had the privilege of working for your community doing a variety of lake management studies and tasks.

I was asked to sit in on a public meeting held by the Association’s Lake Management Committee to discuss plans for dredging sections of the lake. There were a number of great questions from the public as well as a spirited debate among members and the Committee about the proposed dredging method.

During the meeting I was asked about several items, and I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify a couple of my comments. One of those questions had to do with a siphon system which could be utilized to withdraw high nutrient water from the lake depths and discharge it to Rock Creek. While I expressed the opinion that Ohio EPA would discourage installation of a siphon, such a system could have a dramatic positive impact on the overall water quality of Lake Roaming Rock. For this reason, I believe members of the Lake Management Committee should at least take the next step and explore the potential for a siphon directly with the Surface Water group at Ohio EPA in Twinsburg.

The other comment that I’d like to make involves my recommendations, or lack thereof, regarding the dredging methods being proposed. As most of the community is aware, the dredging technique being proposed has changed over the past year. It’s important to keep in mind the purpose of the dredging. I believe the primary reason to dredge is solely to improve lake access. Dredging is unlikely to improve water quality or the overall health of the lake, and for that reason, I’ve avoided making value judgments about the dredging that is being proposed. Questions discussed at the October 28th meeting like how much should we dredge, how much should we dredge, and how much can we afford are all questions that the entire community should weigh in on and which the Association’s Board of Directors must decide.

The most important point that I’d like to make is that I hope residents of Roaming Shores don’t lose sight of the fact that each of you is fortunate to live on such a beautiful and healthy lake. Despite the issues we all tend to focus on and the arguments that develop, the lake has better water quality than most Ohio lakes, and continues to provide you with excellent opportunities for swimming, boating and fishing. As you also know, it has a top notch fishery that 90% of other Ohio lake front owners only wish they had.

In closing, I would join with one of your neighbors who at the meeting expressed the hope that the community is able to put the divisive issues aside and come together to work toward the betterment of the lake.

by Richard D. Gainar, CEBS
Chairman, LMC

Did anyone notice the huge algae bloom during the last week of October? That’s because the lake “turned over”. “Turnover” is an annual phenomenon in deep, stratified lakes like ours. Cold, dense water holds at the bottom of the lake during warm weather while lighter, warm water floats nearer the surface above it. The fuel that spikes the algae bloom is phosphorus, the primary enemy of good water quality. While there was only 28 ug/L in the surface water before the turnover, the bottom water contained a much higher 490 ug/L. Phosphorus is released from the organic lake sediment (decayed weeds, leaves, dead algae, etc.) by de-oxygenated water and is held during summer months at the bottom of our lake by the denser water. Every year when the weather cools the top water to a temperature below that of the bottom water, the lake “turns over” mixing all that phosphorus throughout the water column giving algae that annual shot-in-the-arm resulting in a major bloom.

At our November 7th Association meeting a resident provided some test results that seemed to indicate that algal toxin levels in the waters of three coves were well above acceptable levels. However, the subsequent testing of the same waters by our consultants using official Ohio EPA sampling protocol indicated no detectable levels of toxins. It may be that a difference in sample collection techniques accounted for the difference. Nonetheless, residents need to understand that higher toxin levels may be associated with algae scum and should avoid coming in contact with it when possible.

Lake Management Committee Report
by Richard D. Gainar, CEBS
Chairman, LMC

The Lake Depth Improvement Sub-Committee workshop meeting was held on October 28 in the Clubhouse to discuss the details of our Dredge Plan. Members of this committee made a formal presentation to approximately 75 residents in attendance that asked many good questions and commented on their concerns. The Committee’s slide presentation and handouts are currently available on our website for those who weren’t able to attend.

The Dredge Plan has 3 phases. In-lake sediment traps will first be excavated in the back of 10 major coves to first limit additional sediment from entering the lake. Professional lake studies have historically advised us to control incoming sediment before dredging for obvious reasons. This initial phase of the operation is currently underway and will be completed by this spring. The second phase involves dredging the river channels in major coves where river channel water depth is less than 5 feet. The third phase repeats this process removing sediment beyond the river channels. The total cost of phases 1 & 2 of the Dredge Plan is less than $350,000 and will be completed in about 2 years starting next spring.

Presentations by the committee members and our EnviroScience consultant, Martin A. Hilovsky, dispelled a number of misconceptions about the relationship between water quality and dredging. One of the most significant things residents learned at the meeting was that removing sediment from shallow coves, either hydraulic or mechanical, does little to improve water quality – it merely improves water depth. Your Lake Management Committee’s plans focus spending of your dollars on activities that actually improve our lake water quality. Accordingly, the presentation also included a discussion on activities of the other two LMC sub-committees that are charged with improving water quality (Lake Sediment/Nutrient Control Sub-Committee and the Lake Level Control Sub-Committee). The objective of our Dredge Plan is simply to restore lake access to those cove residents that once had such access.

Although the Dredge Plan presented was much less costly than the previous plan, it is also slower to remove sediment. Several residents were concerned about the mounting sediment buildup even though it doesn’t contribute to water quality issues. The Dredge Plan addresses this issue in its first phase of operations. Significant sediment traps are currently being dug from shore in all major coves and will be expanded during phase #2 operations within the lake. The goal here is to stop additional sediment from further accumulations. With incoming sediment controlled, we can take our time (and spend much less money) to remove sediment that has already entered the lake.

Another misconception discussed involved the fact that, due to liability concerns, no Association sponsored dredge operation, whether hydraulic or mechanical, should operate within 30 feet of any resident’s docks. Any movement of lake soil, either real or imagined, near the shoreline may inspire some residents to sue the Association for damages, and the Association is advised against accepting such a risk. That means that regardless of the dredging plan, residents will need to hire a contractor to clear sediment close to their dock. Some residents asked that if proper waivers were obtained from interested residents, could the Association act as an insured contractor using our scoop-dredging rig to clear dock areas. We will investigate this suggestion.

Although your current Lake Management Sub-Committees (19 current members) are only 3 months old, I’m sure you will agree that considerable planning and progress has already been made. In addition to being critical, these members also invest their time and best efforts to work on evidence-based solutions to water quality issues.