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July 29, 2010 by admin.
By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 1:15 AM Thursday, July 29, 2010 CELINA, Mercer County — Engineering man-made wetlands along small creeks could help heal the waters at Grand Lake St. Marys, state officials say.
If a demonstration project scheduled to begin on Prairie Creek this fall is successful, it could prove a way forward to restoring the health of the 13,500-acre lake where a tourism industry worth up to $200 million annually is being crushed by a cyanobacteria outbreak.
Wetlands are nature’s kidneys for their ability to filter and naturally treat polluted waters. The idea is to recreate wetlands and restore a more natural, slower water flow where creeks on the south shore feed Grand Lake.
The creeks — Prairie, Beaver, Coldwater, Chickasaw and Little Chickasaw — drain a watershed with the state’s highest livestock concentration.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed $500,000 in federal grant funds to […]
Posted in Water Quality, Wetlands | No Comments »
July 20, 2010 by admin.
Submitted by brian on Mon, 07/19/2010 - 2:32pm
minutedate:
Sat, 07/03/2010
The July 3rd LIA meeting opened with the reciting of the “Pledge”. A brief recognition of Bob Grimm’s life and a moment of silence were held in his honor. Due to Bob’s passing we have a vacant trustee position. Nominations were requested at the meeting. The position will be thru December 2010. If anyone is interested, please see any Board member to request your consideration along with your qualifications. Everyone is still encouraged to go to the web and send letters to our legislators. We also encourage each of you to follow up your letters with phone calls or additional letters requesting action on the lake issues.
The “normal” meeting was not held do to the current condition of the lake. Instead, there were four guests on hand to answer audience questions in regards to issues surrounding the lake. The meeting lasted approximately 2 hours with many questions from the audience.
State Representative Jim Zehringer started the meeting off with a brief overview of where we been and where we are going. He said that it is going to take everyone in Mercer County, EPA, & ODNR to clean the lake up.
OEPA Director Chris Korleski spoke to the audience about the degradation of the lake and the fact it has been ongoing for 50 – 100 years. Because of the lack of attention to the lake it is going to take some time to get it fixed, but that it will be fixed! The two problems that currently exist with the lake are internal and external nutrient loading. His best guess is that the bulk of the problem is washing in on the south side of the lake. Internally phosphorus is the cause of the algae bloom and the question is how do we get rid of it. Mr. Korleski suggests that one way is thru spreading alum (aluminum sulfate) on the lake. This chemical will make the algae clump together and fall to the bottom of the lake. This is good for approximately 5-10 years and is a quick fix to a long term problem. It is expensive to purchase and would cost between 5 – 10 million dollars to treat the entire lake. The Ohio EPA has retained an environmental firm called Tetra Tech which will provide a report on July 9th detailing Alum’s possible success with the lake (report available on LIA website). Dredging the entire lake does not appear to be the answer at this time. Dredging is cost prohibitive with estimates from 10 to 100 million and the material removed would need very large areas for retention. The main external loading problem is the run-off from the agricultural area. Studies show that approximately 85% of the nutrient loading is coming from agriculture. There are current programs available for farmers to voluntarily take steps to help the situation. Mr. Korleski states that it may come down to mandatory control thru legislation.
ODNR Director Shawn Logan stated that 25% of the states’ 4 million dollar dredging budget for all state parks goes to St. Marys. Dredging the entire lake would take too long, cost too much money and the issue of where to put the dredging material would need solved. Alum will cost between $280 and $750 per acre but could provide a temporary solution to the algal blooms and toxic issues. His concern is that if the external loading is not reduced, the alum may be less effective.
Wright State University Professor Dr. Hiskey stated “the lake reflects its watershed.” The first issue is that there is a nutrient problem due to excessive phosphorus and nitrogen run off. There is also a long retention time for the water in the lake causing low flushing rate. He cannot explain why there is an algal bloom like we are currently experiencing or whether it will come back or not. Even if the external loading stopped, we may have an algal bloom due to the high nutrients within the lake. This means both internal and external loadings must be fixed.
Response to most common questions include, the lake water is safe to drink from Celina’s water treatment plant. Well water is safe to drink. ODNR & OEPA are responsible to help clean up the lake. Oder is not thought to be a health hazard and boats will not cause a toxic release from the water. Contact or ingestion of the water should be avoided. New legislation will likely be needed to clean up the watershed.
AiryGators are still being tested to understand their impact on the nutrient problem. Alum treatment is being considered for use in the lake to tie-up phosphorous and prevent blue-green algae blooms.
The 50/50 winner of $289.50 was Bob Eilerman.
Next LIA meeting will be August 7, 10:00 AM at the Celina Moose. Please plan to attend!
Posted in Water Quality, GLSM Watershed, Lake Restoration | No Comments »
July 19, 2010 by admin.
5:28 PM Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Still, the impoundment was necessary to support the growth of the cities of Celina and St. Mary.
Posted in Water Quality, Septic systems, GLSM Watershed | No Comments »
March 17, 2010 by admin.
Celina studies venture to turn manure into electricity
Celina Community Development and Planning Director Kent Bryan has begun negotiations with a private company that wants to turn local farm manure into electricity.
The city…
Posted in Water Quality, Manure management, GLSM Watershed | No Comments »
February 24, 2010 by admin.
from The Daily Standard, Saturday, February 20th, 2010
By Nancy Allen
In a sign of solidarity, community members Friday, signed a resolution supporting technology to clean up Grand Lake and hopefully lower levels of a toxin in the lake produced by blue-green algae.
“We’re done doing studies, …
Those at the signing Friday stressed that no one thing is going to improve the lake’s water quality, but rather a combination of several things - including perhaps - the proposed technology.
Posted in Water Quality, GLSM Watershed | 1 Comment »
November 23, 2009 by admin.
GRAND LAKE ST. MARYS & ITS WATERSHED: WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES is available at http://www.ohiodnr.com/downloads/glsm-water.pdf.
Posted in Water Quality, GLSM Watershed | No Comments »
November 23, 2009 by admin.
Posted in Water Quality, GLSM Watershed | No Comments »
November 12, 2009 by admin.
Click to view and/or print the GLSM Water Quality meeting agenda 11-16-09
State officials will be meeting at Wright State Lake Campus and touring a farm in the watershed. Anyone interested and available is invited!
Posted in Water Quality, GLSM Watershed | No Comments »