Rotarians learn about water quality improvements efforts at Grand Lake St. Marys.

 Milt Miller, the Fundraising Chairman for the Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration Commission, explained the efforts to improve water quality in Grand Lake St. Marys.  The Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration Commission is a unified, local coalition committed to proactively restoring the health of Grand Lake St. Marys.  Their first mission was to raise at least $500,000.00 locally to fund the initial pilot technology programs for eventual lake wide installation.  “The state told us that we needed to get a unified voice and we’ve done so,’ said Miller.

 “We’ve found a company in Findlay , Ohio called Streamside Systems,” said Miller.  “Their passion is water quality and they have two technologies we’ve decided to employ in order to improve the water quality at the lake.”  The Commission has surpassed the $500,000.00 mark in fundraising and continues to seek out technology and financing to implement the technology.  “We’ve got two types of problems, one is called external loading, and one is called internal loading,” said Miller.  “This thing is exploding across the country everywhere agriculture and water meet.”  The external loading issue for the lake is one of manure disposal and nutrient management.  Phosphorus in the soils that runoff into the watershed and into the lake feeds the algae that produce the toxins.  The internal load issue is the sediment that resides at the bottom of the lake, over 70 years of nutrient build up.  

Miller explained that Governor Strickland recently visited the area to present a plan developing at the state level that will hopefully assist in the water quality improvement efforts.  The plan to address the external loading includes a comprehensive nutrient management plan for the agricultural operations in the watershed, in combination with the sediment collection technologies being studied at the lake.  To date, about $2,500,000.00 has been made available in the watershed to help offset the costs involved with amending various agricultural practices. 

With regard to the internal loading issue, the Restoration Commission researched the possibility dredging the entire lake.  They estimate that they would need 2000 acres to deposit a 20 foot high pile of dredged material from the lake.  The cost of dredging the entire lake was estimated at $80,000,000.00.  Island building is a potential solution but for the mitigation requirements when a water way is reduced or removed.  There is currently research being done to determine how effective a lake wide alum application might be in reducing the phosphorus in the lake.  It is also hoped that the “Airy-Gator” technology being employed in pilot studies at the lake can also aid in reducing the amount of sediment in the lake, long term.  

“I’m a banker by profession,” said Miller.  “I am watching my friends and neighbors do everything right in their businesses and they are failing through no fault of their own.  There is no other asset that touches every fragment of our society in this region like Grand Lake St. Marys.”  There is already a concern among lakeside homeowners about being taxed at high property values based on their proximity to the lake.  “There is a passion around the lake about making this better, so much so that we raised over $500,000.00 locally in two months time,” said Miller.  “To help support us, you can make a direct, tax deductible donation. Or visit the LIA website at www.savethelake.com, click on “switch and support,” and make a change in how you pay your gas bill.”  This change in gas suppliers will keep marketing dollars from leaving the area and provide a revenue stream for the Commission.  “I am working with the Celina Rotary, the St. Marys Rotary and District Governor Frank Murray on a “tri-club” donation with a district match that would include the New Bremen-New Knoxville Rotary Club.”

Hosting Rotarian: Larry Kellermeyer