West Michigan Environmental Action Council - The WMEAC Blog

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WATER QUALITY LAKEWATCH 2003 by Tom Cary, Program Coordinator Monitoring our lakes is a critical first step to keeping them healthy. What we don't know can hurt our lakes. By collecting information through the Lakewatch Program, volunteers and lake residents are able to check the "vital signs" of a lake that can guide decision-making as well as enable residents to take a greater role in the life of the lake they treasure. Lakewatch is a volunteer lake study program, which WMEAC operates in collaboration with the Michigan Lake and Stream Associations and the Inland Lakes Division of the Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). You can find out more about this program at www.mlswa.org. Through this program, volunteers check water clarity and dissolved oxygen levels and collect water samples to be analyzed for phosphorus and chlorophyll by the MDEQ. It is educational and interesting and a good excuse to be out on our local lakes. Moreover, volunteers in this program provide important data about our lakes that we would not otherwise have to guide future decision-making in our watersheds. This year, 16 volunteers monitored various vital signs on the following 10 lakes and impoundments in Kent County with WMEAC’s support: Big Crooked Lake - Dirk and Ginger Koening and friends Bostwick Lake - Bonnie Shupe and friends Cascade Dam Impoundment (Thornapple River) - Scott Risse, Max Blake and friends Cowan Lake - Al Berry, Dean Salisbury Cranberry Lake - Tom and Mike Cary High Lake - Bob Schirado Freska Lake - Sue Barnes Lime Lake - Don Ensing Murray Lake - John Bajema, Mike Schellenboom Reeds Lake - Dick Hubbard Other lakes monitored in Kent County (included in the overall results): Bass, Big Pine Island, Camp Campau and Little Pine Island. Results: * 2003 2002 Very Healthy: 0 0 Good: 4 2 Fair: 5 6 Poor: 3 3 Very poor: 1 0 Not enough data: 2 3 * Lake scientists do not feel that a single year of data can tell us enough to accurately determine the status of a lake due to variability in environmental impacts (development, annual rain fall and intensity of rainfall, temperature and other characteristics). But over time, the data should provide more reliable information. 10 WMEAC ANNUAL REPORT 2003
WATER QUALITY RAIN GARDENS OF WEST MICHIGAN by Patricia Pennell,Rain Gardens coordinator Rain Gardens of West Michigan is a community stormwater education project featuring the use of rain gardens, which are native species perennial plant gardens with a dip in the middle, designed to absorb and clean stormwater runoff. Some goals of the project are to promote the use of rain gardens in our region and provide a portal of information on the project website. ▲ The new web design: www.raingardens.org was launched in late summer of 2003, and we now have 3,000 visitors a week. The EPA has asked permission to link to our site from their native landscaping information. ▲ We met our second year challenge grant from Steelcase Foundation. ▲ The City of Grand Rapids made Rain Gardens of West Michigan part of their stormwater education program, and we started working with the city to design bioretention solutions for homeowners in the city. ▲ The City created a native plant nursery for us, which is now stocked with rain garden plants. This will save us many road trips to obtain plants and will make putting in gardens a lot easier. Sandy DeHaan Carol Gabriel Carol Phelps Gordon Griffin Gayle DeBruyn Angela Mrozinski Students, parents and staff at New Branches Elementary Students, parents and staff at C. A. Frost Elementary SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF 2003 ▲ The beautiful new rain garden brochure was printed and a poster was produced. RAIN GARDEN VOLUNTEERS, 2003 Bryan Seymour Clinton Boyd Sheri Schippers and GRCC Student Service Learning Center Rob McCarty Rebecca Shilt Bruce Ling Tom and Nancy Small Doug Booth Cynthia Price Steve Allen, Kalamazoo Nature Center Illustration by Ruth Zachary ▲ We have talked to over 1,000 people in various presentations, and thousands of people have viewed the exhibit. ▲ Grand Valley students produced a wonderful rain garden video for our program. ▲ We have formed many partnerships, including landscape design companies, environmental engineers, local governments, and universities. ▲ We identified 20 sites for demonstration rain gardens, completed four gardens and started process for ten more. Cannon Township installed rain gardens on at their new township hall, and this is featured as one of our municipal demo sites. Spruce Creek Company Bob Stegmier Corky Overmyer Linda Prostko Ron Dwelle Kay Hammond Katie Brandt Jenny McCrary Blandford Nature Center Staff MSU Master Gardeners program WMEAC ANNUAL REPORT 2003 11
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Page 5 and 6: During the past year, the West Mich
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Page 13 and 14: DEFENDERS City of Grand Rapids Dyer
Page 15 and 16: 2003 VOLUNTEERS Special thanks to e

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