Grand Lake is getting healthier all the time
The Grand Lake Restoration Commission
showcased progress on Grand Lake St. Marys Thursday, hosting area leaders and stake holders at Wright State Lake Campus.
The take away from the session — the lake is
showingprogress and a decline in nutrient levels.
That progress was the result of collaboration, which Ohio Department
of Agriculture Director Dorothy Polanda emphasized.
“It takes everything. It takes wetlands, it takes
producers doing the right thing,” Polanda
said. “It takes constant examination and innovation.”
Mercer County Agriculture and Natural Resources Director Theresa Dircksen recalled
it was in 2010 Grand Lake St.
Marys experienced a very large
algal bloom, which spurred restoration efforts. Dirksen is also the facilitator for the commission and the Ag Solutions coordinator.
“We are not 100 percent there yet but we keep seeing improvements,” Dircksen said.
She has seen success with farmers wanting to improve nutrient management plans and even more potential with Barger Tech, who are planning to centralize manure processing and work with local farmers.
Terry Mescher, executive director of the H20 Ohio program, said they
had applied for a Climate Smart Federal grant program application, which may tie into Barger Tech’s work in eliminating
excess nutrients from the watershed.
Dircksen explained manure, with the right
amount of phosphorus, might
have excess nitrogen and separating would help balance the fertilizer.
When Biology Professor Dr.
Stephen Jacquemin was asked if there would be an algal bloom this year he
said it would just be a matter of
severity. In terms of an average over the last 15 to 20 years, Jacquemin
said “we are at half of that average level in terms of algae.”
“Things are really positive,” Jacquemin said. He recalled that there was a time in the 1990s when
Grand Lake was one of the worst lakes in the nation due to toxicity.
Attendees toured the Burntwood
Langenkamp Conservation, where water will meander through about a mile
of wetlands once fully constructed and
planted. They also toured the fully operational Coldwater Creek wetland.
Jaquemin said nutrient levels have
dropped by about 40 percent when comparing this year to average load levels in the surrounding
streams. He explained while the
drop in levels is great, the starting
point was so high that the work will continue.
Another piece of the restoration puzzle is dredging, removing sediment and nutrient rich topsoil from the lake
into nearby wetland areas. That effort also makes waterways more navigable for the shallow lake.
Last year State Park Manager Dave Faler
said they removed 400,000 cubic yards of material. They
have also been introducing native aquatic vegetation to Prairie Creek to help remove nutrients. Faler noted the impact this makes as an
estimated 13 tons of phosphorus flow
into Grand Lake St. Marys.
Acre for acre, he said, wetlands are the most effective at removing nutrients — and he said one wetland can remove
about five percent of
the total phosphorus load flowing into
Grand Lake St. Marys.
Jacquemin emphasized there is less nutrient loading now than at any point in the last 15 years due to the combination of
practices.