High lake level not affecting dredging much

CELINA - This summer's heavy rains have not greatly affected dredging on Grand Lake, but officials still don't know how the weather will affect the lake's algae problem.

Local weather forecaster Dennis Howick said as of this morning, the area had received a record 12.48 inches of rain this month. The area normally receives 3.86 inches of rain in June. The prior record of 8.48 inches of rain was set in 1958.

Local officials are waiting to see how the rains will affect the lake.

Grand Lake's water level has risen to 181/4 inches above the spillway notch, Ohio Southwest District Park Manager Brian Miller said. The ideal water level is nine inches below the notch.

"There's just not much we can do," Miller said. "We don't know how this is going to affect us."

The last microcystin test taken June 15 detected 22.8 parts per billion at West Beach, 42.4 at Campers Beach, 47 at East Beach and 162 at Windy Point, Miller said.

A reading of 6 ppb or higher triggers a recreational water advisory. The World Health Organization's guideline for banning recreational contact is 20 ppb, which is at the upper end of the moderate risk range.

Microcystin is a liver toxin produced by blue-green alga that can harm humans and animals. It can lead to skin rashes and if swallowed can cause nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

"We're planning on taking another test Wednesday," Miller said. "But that doesn't mean that the microcystin levels will increase or be more than they have in the past."

Celina City Water Plant superintendent Mike Sudman said the situation is in "the hands of Mother Nature."

"This is purely a wait-and-see game," Sudman said. "We're not seeing anything right now that leads me to believe that this rain is going to have a huge impact on the algae blooms. As a matter of fact, the rain is helping flush the phosphorus out of the lake."

Phosphorous, which is found in manure and manmade fertilizers, is the main nutrient contributing to toxic blue-green algal blooms in Lake Erie and Grand Lake. The local lake has been under a state water advisory every year since 2009 due to unsafe levels of algal toxins. Last year a Lake Erie algal bloom forced Toledo to issue a two-day drinking water ban for more than 400,000 customers.

State agriculture engineer Terry Mescher, who works with watershed farmers on conservation issues, agrees with Sudman.

"A lot of this rain is going to push fresh water into the lake," Mescher said. "But we really don't know yet. It's going to depend on the weather the rest of the summer. And this rain could be pushing a lot of residue into the lake. It's like Mike said, a wait and see."

Mescher said if it gets really hot this summer, the lake will probably see large blooms.

"If it remains a cool summer, we may not see as many," Mescher said.

"They have some very sophisticated machinery up on Lake Erie that we don't have," he added. "We just don't have an answer right now."

No one has reported excess nutrients going into the lake or over the spillway, Mescher said.

Matt Heckler, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District technician, said he has no idea how the rain is going to affect the lake.

"Right now there's just no good answer for it," Heckler said. "We just don't know and won't know until it gets tested."

Dina Pierce, a spokeswoman for the OEPA, agreed with Heckler and Mescher.

"We just don't know what impact this may have," Pierce said. "We'll have to wait to see what testing shows later in the summer."

The rain has had only a slight impact on lake dredging efforts, Tom Grabow, ODNR waterway/construction operations manager, said.

"We've been doing some cleanup right now," Grabow said. "We've been getting debris and trees out of the lake so they aren't a hazard. But we can also dredge in the rain and it really doesn't affect us."

Grabow said 123,000 cubic yards of material has been taken from the lake this year. The dredging record was set two years ago with more than 302,000 cubic yards removed. Last year 232,000 cubic yards of material were removed.

With all the rain, some researchers said Lake Erie may see more algae blooms due to phosphorus washing into the rivers and eventually into the lake. However, they do not expect the blooms to reach the extent they did in 2011 when they spread from Toledo to Cleveland.

Gail Hesse, with the Ohio Lake Erie Commission, said she could not speak to the impact on Grand Lake.

"But we believe, for Lake Erie only, that the rain may put more phosphorus into Lake Erie," Hesse said. "But you have to remember, there are 4.5 million acres of watershed going into the western basin of Lake Erie. We can't compare that to Grand Lake at all."