GLUE Report:
7-22-11
First,
for those of you who attended our water quality forum last Saturday at
Cherokee, thanks for taking part. I wrote a column, which was released on Grand
Lake news Online Wednesday, which summarizes the meeting and I’ll post it below
for those of you who are not on our e-mail distribution list. If you’d like to
be receiving our Wednesday updates, let me know and I’ll add your e-mail
address to our distribution list. A lot has happened since last Saturday so
here’s your GLUE membership at work.
On
Tuesday, I met with Dr. Darrell Townsend, the eco guru for GRDA, and if you’ll
recall, the spokesman regarding the science surrounding the Blue Green Algae
event. I was looking specifically for some definition in the nutrient level
content of Grand Lake and suggesting a method to keep the public advised on the
lake’s condition. I suggested a graph, which could be found on the authority
web site and published on others, showing the current nutrient level compared
to an average year. I learned the authority is in the process of receiving and
installing a lake analysis system. It would analyze the water in a variety of
ways from the surface to the bottom which would include nutrient levels,
dissolved oxygen, lake temperature, thermal climb (Sp) and much more. The much
more was a little technical for me. This system should be up and operational by
next spring at the latest and perhaps as soon as this fall.
I
also explored ways with Townsend for the GRDA to help fund the Grand lake
Watershed Alliance Foundation. I suggested a dock fee increase of ten American
dollars to be earmarked for the foundation which would result in around 60K.
Although hesitant because of all the complaints they received with the last fee
increase, it seemed like a possibility. I also offered the thought that GLUE
could spearhead an effort to present a proposal to the board of directors for
direct funding. My reasoning to Townsend was with the amount of money they
expended on this last event, an investment in cleaning up the watershed would
be in their best interest and would be received well by the FERC. He seemed to
favor this approach. I’ll see if we can pursue this as an agenda item at the
next board meeting.
That
afternoon I met with Gary Sherrer, who is Governor Fallin’s Secretary of the
Environment. I’ve known Gary for many years and he’s an old Grand Lake guy. He
was very encouraging about Fallin initiating action, sometime after August 1,
with the governors of Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri to establish an alliance to
address the watershed. This would be a giant step forward and this would be a
huge step forward for the water alliance board members who have worked so hard
on this issue.
I
also talked with the secretary about the 21 waste water treatment plants which
currently discharge into Grand Lake. I wanted to know how we could find out if
they were in compliance with their licenses and were there test results
available through the open records venue which could be reviewed. He directed
me to the head of DEQ for the request, which is under his umbrella of
responsibility. Will pursue that further and let the membership know our
progress.
As
most of you know by now, we launched a second petition drive to support doing
away with the 741’ lake level. I’ll attach the petition form and if you’re
agreement with it please forward it back to me with your name address and
e-mail address and I’ll add you to our initial submission to the FERC. GRDA is
getting hammered by letters to the FERC from people trying to make this a flood
issue which it is not. 741 was never about flooding and was only in the license
for the ducks.
Lots
going on and there’s more to come…Thanks for your participation and support.
See
column as follows:
Old Lady Grand
Needs a Hand!
The
events leading up to the Independence Holiday weekend, and since, have done
more to focus all of us on the water quality of Grand Lake than ever before.
This past Saturday Grand Lake News Online and Grand Lakers United Enterprise
hosted a water quality forum at the Cherokee Yacht Club. Yours truly served as
the moderator of the meeting and representatives from the Grand Lake Watershed
Alliance Foundation were on hand to talk about Grand Lake's condition, and what
is and can be done to improve the overall water quality in the watershed.
GLWAF
board member Pete Chuchwell, Chairman of the board Carl Metcalf and the
organization’s President John Gillette each addressed the approximate crowd of
sixty-five, who turned out to find out more about Grand Lake’s water quality
and what can be done to improve it. Most of their comments were educational in
concept about both the lake and their organization, which has now been in
existence for four years. They also provided their take on the recent Blue
Green Algae outbreak on Grand Lake and offered their suggestions for alerting
the public to any future episodes, in an organized manner in order inform, but
not panic the public.
In
short, their message included the bad news regarding elevated nutrient levels
in Grand Lake, which allowed the recent algae outbreak to take place, but also
offered encouraging words about their strategic plan, released in 2008, to help
reduce those elevated levels. All three emphasized that the majority of the
phosphorus and nitrates flowing into Grand come from upstream, approximately
90%, but that before we point the finger anywhere else, we need to address our
contribution to the problem. They pointed to phosphorous as “Public Enemy #!”
and covered things we can do locally to reduce the amounts of phosphorous in
the lake.
They
urged those in attendance, and all Grand Lakers for that matter, to avoid the
use of products with phosphorus content like laundry and dish washing detergent
and fertilizers containing phosphorous, unless a soil test confirmed the need
for the chemical. They encouraged the pumping out of all septic systems every
three years, even if the system seemed to be operating in a satisfactory
manner. To review the entire strategic plan click on this link, http://glwaf.org/?page_id=137.
They
also addressed the large number of sewage treatment plants, both city
government owned and privately operated which are discharged into the
watershed. The Alliance has approached many of these to lower the amount of
phosphorus discharged into the watershed voluntarily, but there are things we
can do as well. In a recent release from Metcalf, the foundation offers
suggestions for help with this endeavor from Grand Lakers just like you and me.
The article can be found in its entirety on our home page and is titled, Waste
Water Treatment in Our Watershed.
The
Alliance is moving in the right direction, but funding will be required to initiate
some of the upstream projects to reduce agricultural and commercial
contribution to the nutrient loading of Grand Lake. We’ve established a tab on
the Grand Lake News Online home page to access current information about the
foundation, the watershed, how to financially support the efforts of the
alliance and current conditions of the lake. We urge those interested in an
improved water quality on Grand Lake to visit the foundation’s web site at www.glwaf.org for additional information on how
to help.
But
here’s the bottom line Grand Lake. Although the Blue Green Algae event didn’t
turn out to be as big a health risk as some experts first thought, it did serve
as a wakeup call for all Grand Lakers…locals and weekenders alike. We've all
done a reasonable job of acting like an Ostrich, with our heads in the sand,
for the last twenty years. Commercial operators have feared the impact on
business and no government agency wanted to step forward, sound the alarm and
more importantly take the blame for any economic downturn attributed to the
truth. But guys and gals, this is not a Grand Lake problem, it’s a national
problem. Check out the all new EPA web site dedicated to nitrate and
phosphorous pollution at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/nutrients/index.cfm.
We’ve
got to step up and demand the attention this issue requires
See
ya’ Around the Pond!