(Wahpeton)– A series of public meetings to gather input from citizens regarding proposed criteria for evaluating Iowa lakes used for swimming will be held throughout the state later this month. One of those will be held locally.
The proposed standards measure the transparency of the water and recommend maintaining water clarity of a little more than three feet in atleast 75 percent of the measurements. A standard of maintaining Chlorophyll-A levels not to exceed 25 micrograms per liter in 75 percent of the measurements taken is also being proposed. Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say both standards are based on measurements taken during the summer recreational months between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
DNR officials say the standards will apply to 127 lakes in Iowa that have a maintained beach, appear on the list of Significant Public Owned Lakes or have a mean depth of more than 9.9 feet. Several of those lakes are here in the Iowa Great Lakes area.
Chuck Correll, Chief of the Water Quality Bureau for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says poor water quality and clarity can be a safety issue on lakes where swimming is a predominant recreational activity. And he says it can be an economic factor as well. He says research from other states show that transparency of less than one meter reduces lakefront property value by as much as 22 percent.
Locally, a public comment meeting on the proposed standards is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 29th at the Waitt Building at Lakeside Lab on the west side of West Lake Okoboji.
Comments may also be submitted in writing. They should be addressed to Chuck Correll, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Wallace State Office Building, 502 East 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa…50319-0034. They may also be faxed to (515) 281-8895 or emailed to chuck.correll@dnr.iowa.gov.
