KEEP OKOBOJI BLUE ~ Arnolds Park, Iowa

Keep Okoboji Blue ~ Arnolds Park, Iowa

LAKES ALIVE | May 2007 Newsletter

Emerson Bay Added to Impaired Waters List The 2006 draft of the Impaired Waterways for Iowa was released in April. Emerson Bay on West Okobojiwas added to the list due to bacteria problems. The bacteria problem has been an re-occurring issues sincebeach monitoring started on Emerson Bay back in 2001. The Clean Water Alliance has been working to findthe source of the bacteria. The water testing done by DNR has basically eliminated wildlife and agriculturalsources with detergent tests.Watershed analysis has identified two potential sources of bacteria one being septic systems and the otherbeing a lift station for the sanitary sewer district. With both being along the drainage area it is hard to identifythe actual source. Last fall DNR Wildlife section diverted half of the drainage to a series of wetlands and thento Garlock Slough for wildlife habitat improvements. This work separates two potential sources of bacteriaand testing that will start a week before Memorial Day will help us identify the source.This should be able to be fixed this summer. More updates on this will be coming.

Source Water Act Team (SWAT) Update The Source Water Act Team or SWAT met on May 1, 2007 to get the Source Water Action Plan started. Anupdate of the plan was discussed. The top three priorities for this project are: 1. Transportation of Hazardous Materials - Emergency Planning 2. Identify and Prioritize storm sewer, tiles, urban/rural drainage system etc. 3. Septic Tanks InventoryThe Clean Water Alliance and DNR has started the initial step for all three top priorities. Volunteers that wantto assist with working to protect the drinking water sources in the Iowa Great Lake please contact the CleanWater Alliance or Milford Utilities. To see the full Source Water Action Plan go to the Milford Utilitieswebsite.

Silver Lake Development Watershed Assessment to Start The Dickinson County Soil and Water Conservation District received a state grant for doing an assessment forSilver Lake in Dickinson County. The money will pay for assessment of the land use within the watershed andto find areas that may impair water quality. These funds will be match with money from the Dickinson CountyWater Quality Commission. The Water Quality Commission funds will assist in paying for salary as well aswater monitoring of the watershed. Another partner for this project will be the Iowa DNR for more potentialwater monitoring for flow into the lake from the main drainage. This project should begin prior to June of2007 and will make the watershed more available for state and federal grants.