The Clean Water Connection is a series of interviews on KUOO that focus on water quality issues in the Iowa Great Lakes. It is presented by the Okoboji Blue Water Festival and the Okoboji Protective Association. John Fieselman is the President of the OPA and says it’s a special year…
“We’re celebrating our 120th anniversary as one of the longest running conservation organizations in the state of Iowa and the reason that listeners should understand why OPA is so important, really focuses on our mission and goals. Our mission is that the Okoboji Protective Association is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the water quality and ecology of Lake West Okoboji and the Iowa Great Lakes watershed.”
Last year the floods affected the lakes in the area and Fieselman says they continue to monitor the water through the Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project, known as CLAMP…
“What was most interesting because we monitor it on a weekly basis, within a week of the flood we had levels all return back to normal with the exception of water clarity and water blooms and we continued to watch e coli because there were several beaches affected with high e coli levels.”
Fieselman talks about the projects that the OPA will focus on for the summer…
“Monitoring through the CLAMP data. We’re going to specifically look at e coli levels on some of the beaches where we’ve had difficulties in the past. We have an ongoing project that looks at both traffic and anchor drag. Anchor drag is particularly important because in those areas where there’s the drag we worry about invasive species feeding in those area and then finally we’re going to focus on looking at unified zoning rules and hopefully develop a unified land use plan for the different municipalities and the Dickinson County.”
If you would like to become a member of the Okoboji Protective Association you can go to their website at okobojiprotectiveassociation.org You can tune in every Wednesday at 3:30 for the Clean Water Connection on FM 104 KUOO. You can also find the entire series under the community tab at exploreokoboji.com
