NALMS
Notes
2006--Issue 2
Lakes Appreciation Month and What It Means to You
In this Issue
Upcoming National & Regional NALMS Conferences
Proposed New Membership Category: NALMS Affiliate
Lakes Appreciation Month Events Around the Country
Great Lakes Appreciation Month Press Release
Lakes Appreciation T-shirts Sales and Posters
Open Invitation to Add to the Next NALMS Notes
Suggestions? Comments? E-mail them to Steve Lundt <slundt@mwrd.dst.co.us> or Philip Forsberg <forsberg@nalms.org>
Not a NALMS member? Want to become one? Click here to join!
Join the Great Lakes Givers Club!
©2006. North American Lake Management
Society
PO Box 5443
Madison, WI 53705
608.233.2836
President's Letter
I welcome you to the summer issue of the North American Lake Management Society’s electronic newsletter. I apologize up front for the delay in receiving this issue, for which I take full credit. Gracious thanks to Steve Lundt and all those who put it together. This latest issue of the NALMS e-newsletter celebrates Lakes Appreciation Month, July 2006. – Highlights of Lakes Appreciation Month include our summer flagships: the Lakes Appreciation Poster put out by the NALMS Education Committee led by Amy Smagula and Jody Connor and the Secchi Dip-In managed, as always, by our friend, Bob Carlson. I hope you took the opportunity in July to appreciate lakes, whether you were sitting in an Adirondack chair at the end of a dock or leaning over the shady side of a boat taking a Secchi disk reading.
Lakes are an essential feature of the landscape that have always attracted us. Lakes not only reflect what we do in the landscape that surrounds them, but they reflect something within our soul. Take time in your day to appreciate your lake.
As always, you can reach me at president@nalms.org. I hope to hear from you and speak with you in Indianapolis!
Michael R. Martin, CLM • president@nalms.org
President, North American Lake Management Society
Upcoming National and Regional NALMS Conferences for 2006
NALMS 2006 Annual International Symposium
Indianapolis, Indiana
November 8-10It's time to start registering for NALMS' 26th Annual International Symposium! Complete registration information is available on the conference web site (www.nalms.org/symposia/indianapolis). You'll also find details on pre-symposium workshops, special events and hotel information on the conference web site.
NALMS’ Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting
Portland, Oregon
September 13-15A new event on NALMS' conference calendar is the Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting, co-hosted by the Oregon Lakes Association (OLA), the Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA), and the Portland State University Center for Lakes and Reservoirs with support of NALMS and in conjunction with the Western Regional Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species. This regional conference offers a unique opportunity to learn the concerns and challenges experienced by other Pacific Northwest states while forging connections among lake and resource managers, researchers, and citizens.
Complete conference details including program and registration may be found on the conference web site.
Lakes and Rivers Conference 2006
The Changing Landscapes of Minnesota's Waters
Duluth, Minnesota
September 7-9Sponsored by Minnesota Waters (formerly the Minnesota Lakes Association and the Rivers Council of Minnesota). Visit www.minnesotawaters.org/conference06.html for more information.
23rd Annual AWRA Meeting
Polson, Montana
October 12-13The 2006 (23rd Annual) AWRA meeting will be held in Polson, Montana at the Kwataqnuk Resort on Flathead Lake, October 12 and 13, 2006. This year the theme is: “Montana’s Lakes and Wetlands: Improving Integrated Water Management.” Visit http://awra.org/state/montana/events/conference.htm for more information.
Proposed New Membership Category: NALMS Affiliate
In response to last year's vote at the annual symposium to table the proposal to eliminate the chapters' membership without a new membership, here is the proposed new and improved membership category that will replace the chapters membership category. NALMS members will have a chance to vote on this again at the Society's Annual Business Meeting held in conjunction with the symposium in Indianapolis.
New Relationship
NALMS would like to have a more functional relationship with the groups now known as chapters. These groups are valued as extensions of NALMS, acting autonomously with a similar mission, but with a more regional focus. Unfortunately, these groups are not chapters under any reasonable organizational definition, and the structure imposed by NALMS has not aided the growth and function of these groups the way we would like. NALMS is therefore seeking to transform the current Chapter category into an Affiliate membership with the following features:
- Affiliates can be any local, state/province, or regional lake management group with a mission consistent with that of NALMS and a willingness to partner with NALMS on activities to promote that mission.
- No annual report and no membership-based dues structure
- Improved Communications
- NALMS communications to each Affiliate
- LakeLine
- E-Newsletter
- Access to Yahoo lakes group
- Promotion of Affiliate events
- Symposium involvement
- NALMS communication to Individual members of each Affiliate
- Access to E-newsletter
- Periodic email communications (These can be direct or through the affiliate as preferred)
- Affiliate communication to NALMS
- Affiliates Council (one point of contact from each Affiliate)
- Designated NALMS contact
- Affiliate Council updates to Board (access to Board at meetings)
- Affiliate communication to other Affiliates
- Yahoo Group
- Newsletter Swap by email
- LakeLine - Affiliate Updates
Affiliate Membership: $250
To be an Affiliate, your group must have a mission statement that is consistent with that of NALMS, and can be any organization that is willing to affiliate with NALMS in the promotion of lake and reservoir management (e.g., lake association, watershed association, state association, province association, or a regional lake/reservoir management group.)
Services/Benefits for the Affiliate
- Members-only access on the NALMS website for designated Affiliate contact
- Discount insurance rates as available for those eligible
- 1 representative on the Affiliate Council
- 1 copy of each LakeLine issue
- 1 copy of each issue of the Journal of Lake and Reservoir Management
- NALMS Homepage link to Affiliate web page
- Promotion of Affiliate events on the NALMS website
- Nonprofit rate on booth display at Symposium
- One vote per Affiliate at annual meetings and election of officers
Current Chapters not wishing to become Affiliates are encouraged to join as Nonprofit members where eligible.
Lakes Appreciation Month Events Around the Country
Here are some ways to celebrate Lakes Appreciation Month:
- Organize a lakeshore clean up to collect trash that have washed up on shore.
- Begin a storm drain stenciling program.
- Contact your local newspaper and radio station to prepare an article about how valuable your lake is.
- Contact your state’s volunteer lake monitoring program and become an active volunteer.
- Ask your governor or provincial government to declare the month as Lakes Appreciation Month in your state or province.
- Plan a picnic, water festival, or other event to get lake property owners and lake users involved with lake appreciation.
- Photograph community participation in lake activities and send the photo and related caption to the local paper.
- Initiate or become an active member of the lake organization in your community. Contact the NALMS office at 608-233-2836 or on the Internet at www.nalms.org for a listing of state and provincial lake organizations.
- Contact your local newspaper, radio, or TV station to prepare an article or editorial about how valuable your lake.
- Get involved in developing a long-term community plan for your lake to balance the needs of the lake-environment with those of people.
- Participate in the Great American Secchi Dip-In to measure your lake's water clarity. Visit the Dip-In web site at http://dipin.kent.edu
- Learn more about how to control exotic species like Eurasian Water Milfoil and zebra mussels that threaten our enjoyment of lakes. Call your local state or provincial lake coordinator for more information.
- Tell others about Lakes Appreciation Month and share your enthusiasm for lakes with local media, family, friends, colleagues, and youth groups.
- Relax and enjoy the view of your lake!
Colorado
Starting last year, one lake in Colorado is highlighted during July. This year, Cherry Creek Reservoir was the featured lake. With just over 1.5 million visitors a year to its shores, this lake is very important to Colorado. The estimated economic recreational value to the Denver area is between $1.4 - $3.3 billion dollars a year. Activities planned for this past July included: water quality campfire talks at the campground, Wednesday grill night and sail boat races at the marina, self-guided boat tours, free fishing gear for kids, shoreline clean up along the dam, noxious weed removal, 15-20 educational displays, volunteer luncheon, and a visit from both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Colorado to take the official Secchi depth reading for the Great North American Secchi Dip-In. Sponsors for these events were: State Parks, local watersheds, Denver Water, Colorado Lake & Reservoir Management Association, Cherry Creek Marina, Colorado Division of Wildlife, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota
Lake Superior Day was celebrated July 16. Lake Superior Day was a special day that encouraged you to think about your connection to the world's largest freshwater lake. Although Lake Superior is the cleanest of the five Great Lakes, it too is being threatened by pollution, invasive species, loss of habitat and over-development. The purpose of a special day was to remind people how important the lake and its natural resources are to our everyday living and to encourage each of us to take action to protect it.
The first official date for Lake Superior Day held basin-wide in the U.S. and Canada was Sunday, July 17, 2005. Last year officials in 19 cities, states, tribes and groups signed a proclamation. This year, several more proclamations have been added. For more information, go to http://www.superiorforum.info.
Great Lakes Appreciation Month Press Release
Take this creative press release, change it to your lake situation and try to get the press to print it. It originated in Minnesota and has gotten lots of attention in some lake communities.
OBITUARY
Stevens, Lake
Lake Stevens drained, age, 11,972, after a long and grueling battle with contamination runoff, effluent dumpage, recreational abuse and heavy consumption. Stevens is survived by 1,532 lakes and reservoirs, all residing locally in Colorado. An active member of the aquatic community, Stevens contracted damaging amounts of algae and dehydration due to high levels of nutrients from stormwater, green-lawn syndrome (GLS), failed septic systems and direct contact with excreting humans. Federal and local programs frantically tried to revive the popular lake, but the millions of taxpayer dollars spent were just years too late. In lieu of flowers, loved ones are asked to reduce water consumption, eliminate fertilizers from impervious surfaces, fix vehicular oil leaks, join a local watershed or lake association and appreciate how important and fragile are remaining lakes and reservoirs are to your daily life.
For more details about Lakes Appreciation Month visit
www.clrma.org www.coloradowater.org www.nalms.org
# # #
Lakes Appreciation T-shirt Sales and Posters
NALMS is selling Lakes Appreciation t-shirts ($15.00) to help fund the student poster contests. They are great to sell at your local lakes appreciation events or to give to volunteers who help out. Contact the NALMS office for more information (www.nalms.org).
The poster for this year is another great one drawn by Tatem Burns from Round Valley Middle School, Lebanon, New Jersey. Tatem won $100 and his school won $500 for being selected. The 2007 poster contest is already underway. NALMS is accepting artwork now for next year’s poster. For more information about the poster contest, go to www.nalms.org/lakesappreciation/poster_contest07.pdf.
Lakes in the News
SPOKANE, Wash. - A Seattle construction company and the Idaho Transportation Department have agreed to pay federal fines totaling $895,000 after part of a road project collapsed into Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho.
The fines against Idaho Transportation and Scarsella Brothers Inc. are for violations of the Clean Water Act during expansion of U.S. 95 near Coeur d'Alene, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.
They are the largest fines ever assessed by the EPA's Seattle regional headquarters for storm water issues, the agencies said. "This settlement will result in improved water quality and is a signal of the Agency's commitment to increased enforcement of our nation's environmental laws and regulations," Nakayama said.
Fun Facts About Lake Superior
Lake Superior, the biggest, coldest, and cleanest of the Great Lakes, is the largest freshwater lake, by surface area, on Earth.
The lake contains 10 percent of the world’s fresh water, enough to submerge all of North and South America under one foot of water. Only Siberia's Lake Baikal, because it is deeper, holds more water.
The lake’s surface covers 31,700 square miles, or about the size of South Carolina. The lake is so big it could hold all the water from the other four Great Lakes, PLUS three more lakes the size of Lake Erie!
Lake Superior’s deepest point is 1,332 feet, which would almost cover the Sears Tower in Chicago, one of the world’s tallest buildings. In 1985, scientists using a submersible vessel descended for the first time to the deepest part, which is near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The lake stretches approximately 350 miles from west to east, and 160 miles north to south. If you could travel along the entire Lake Superior shoreline, you’d go 1,826 miles, or the distance from Duluth to San Francisco.
The Chippewa Indian translation, Gichigami, signifies Great Water. According to Native American Ojibwa lore, it is protected by Nanabijou, Spirit of the Deep Sea Water.
French explorers referred to this tremendous body of water as le lac superieur, or “Upper Lake,” or the lake above Lake Huron.
Sources: Great Lakes Information Network, University of WI-Extension, Wisconsin Sea Grant, Minnesota Sea Grant, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Ask the Lakespert
Q: Why is the lake I live on so clear in April and May? — Bo Reheck (Beecher Island, WA)
A: It is a common phenomenon for many dimictic lakes to “clear up” at some point during the spring, before the hot summer season hits so you are not along Bo. Late spring (months vary depending on the location) is a unique time for lakes. It is when the lake has officially stratified for the summer season, but it is still cold enough to limit algae growth. As soon as the lake is stratified (cutting off any internal loading of nutrients), the upper water is only where the algae can happily survive and affect the water clarity. At the same time, the water temperature is still relatively cold so many things do not grow as fast. Also, the inflows to your lake might be low during this time (depends on your rainy season) so there is little nutrient loading occurring. Under these conditions (cooler water, top 10-20 feet of water isolated, and lower nutrients entering the top water), the lake’s algae community is not too productive. This is the reason why your lake is nice and clear in late spring. But as the days get hotter in June and July, so does the top waters. The algae can more easily thrive, especially the Blue-green algae that tend to form the algae scums in late summer or when waters get typically above 20°C . This change can occur within a week or two so the change can be quite drastic in a short amount of time.
Word of warning, watch out for those individuals or lake managers that try to manipulate your lake in the spring and then try to take all the credit for the sudden clarity changes. Instead of that contraption or chemical they put in, it just might be because of a natural pattern for your lake.
Invasive Species
Invasive Algae Show Up in Some TVA Tailwaters
TVA scientists have recently confirmed the presence of a freshwater diatom (a single-celled algal species) in the reaches of river below Watauga and South Holston Dams.
Its taxonomic name is Didymosphenia geminata, but it is commonly referred to as “Didymo.” No one’s exactly sure how it got here, but it could be that human activity or waterfowl were the culprits — unwittingly transferring it from one waterbody to another. However it happened, it’s not good news, according to TVA Scientist Tyler Baker: “Any time a non-native species is introduced to an aquatic environment, there are likely to be implications. We will be watching closely to see how Didymo affects Valley waterways.”
Didymo thrives in cool, clear, nutrient-poor water, where it tends to form massive blooms that result in algal mats. Believed to be native to northern Europe, Canada, and other regions in the Northern Hemisphere, it appears to have recently exhibited a greater tolerance for different conditions, gradually expanding its geographic range. While it has been found in some streams in the Western U.S. — as well as in the White River in Arkansas — this is the first confirmed record of the diatom occurring east of the Mississippi River.
Most often found on the bottom of streams and rivers, Didymo attaches itself by stalks to the gravelly bottom of the stream or riverbed — smothering rocks and submerged plants. “This is a concern for a number of reasons,” explains Baker. “It reduces the area of clean substrate upon which fish nest and lay eggs. The resulting change in habitat could conceivably cause a shift in the types of aquatic insects present. It also tends to outcompete and limit the growth of native algal species, many of which are food sources for aquatic insects — which, in turn, are preyed upon by fish and other creatures.” Didymo also has caused problems by clogging water intakes in British Columbia streams, according to Baker.
Didymo seems to become easily established in lake-fed or regulated rivers (below dams), where stable water currents are likely to promote further growth by transferring plenty of nutrients to the mat surface. Cold tailwaters (the areas immediately downstream of dams) and streams are the most likely candidates, says Baker: “Apalachia is at the top of my list — given Didymo’s habitat preference. We’ll also be closely watching other reservoir tailwaters and streams throughout the Valley. It could easily find a home it likes at Norris, Blue Ridge, Nottely, and possibly Chatuge or Tims Ford tailwaters.”
The good news is that TVA monitoring efforts have not yet indicated any recent declines in fish or aquatic insect populations in the Watauga or South Holston tailwaters. “We conduct annual sampling in these tailwaters,” says Baker, “and we have quite a bit of historical data that should tell us a lot about densities and composition. That’ll be a big advantage when it comes to spotting any trends that might be attributable to the proliferation of Didymo.”
How can you tell if an algal bloom (a common occurrence this time of year) is actually Didymo? First of all, it’s much more likely to be found in a stream or river; algal blooms in reservoirs are usually indicative of another species. It appears as a thick white, light gray, pale yellow-brown, or beige (not green) mass, which may cover over 90 percent of the river bottom in many reaches. Once established, it may look like a brown shag carpet covering the whole river or stream bottom. It frequently forms flowing “rat’s tails” that often turn white at their ends and look a lot like lengths of toilet paper. Although Didymo looks slimy, it’s actually more spongy and feels sort of scratchy — rather like wet cotton wool. While it does not appear to affect the safety of drinking water, taste and odor problems may be a concern.
You can help slow the spread of Didymo in Valley waters by taking these precautions:
- Before leaving the river, check your shoes, waders, life vest, boat hull, tires, and other equipment for clumps of algae, taking care to search within creases or compartments. Leave clumps at the site.
- If you discover clumps of algae after leaving the area, do not wash them down the drain. Treat them in a 2 percent solution of household bleach or a 5 percent solution of salt, antiseptic hand cleaner, or dishwashing detergent. Infected equipment can also be treated by drying completely for at least two days.
- Under no circumstances should fish, plants, or other items be moved from an affected waterway to an unaffected waterway.
If you spot an algal mat in a stream or river that you believe might be Didymo, please contact Tyler Baker at 423-876-6733.
Open Invitation to Add to the Next NALMS Notes
If you are having a conference, have a lake-related question, need advice, looking for similar lake problems, have an interesting story to share, are selling something, had a great Lakes Appreciation Month event or just want to be heard throughout NALMS, please send your material to Steve Lundt at slundt@mwrd.dst.co.us.