A Lake County group is highlighting the county’s poor lake health with a pilot program monitoring 12 of its more than 170 lakes, 70% of which are considered impaired by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Called Lake County Lake Lovers, the advocacy group held a special event Thursday evening to discuss the challenges facing the vast majority of the county’s lakes, as well as the restoration work the group has been undertaking.
According to Paul Spiewak, tech team leader for Lake Lovers, many of the county’s lakes are considered impaired due to high phosphorus concentrations. These lead to algae blooms, which the state EPA says can be toxic to people.
The phosphorus comes from a variety of sources, but Spiewak highlighted fertilizer runoff. Lake County’s farming history means a century of phosphorus has built up in the sediments at the bottom of lakes, which can be released in the summer and cause a spike in algae blooms.
While there are various techniques for helping reduce phosphorus and restore lakes, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” Spiewak said. That’s where the new pilot program, started earlier this year, comes in.
Using equipment donated by Illinois manufacturer Xylem, Lake Lovers is using a network of volunteers to take an array of measurements, such as temperature and phosphorus concentration, every two weeks at the targeted lakes.
Organizers said they originally planned to include just five lakes.
“We invited anyone in Lake County saying, ‘Would you be willing to come and learn how to use this professional equipment? Would you be willing to sign up to go out twice a month from April to October and record measurements?’” Rebecca Sawle, co-chair of Lake Lovers, recalled.
The count more than doubled as community engagement rose, finally launching in March with a dozen lakes and a small army of community members helping transport the equipment and take measurements. The group considers the program a critical first step to addressing the issues of lake health, as well as a way for residents to know how their lakes are doing.
There’s a variety of techniques, sitting at a variety of price points, that can be used to help clean up lakes, many of which are being utilized at the 12 lakes in the Lake Lovers’ pilot program.
They range from the basic, such as dredging and plant removal, to the cutting edge, like the use of special enzymes and dissolved oxygen. It’s actually that second technique that inspired Mary Conley Eggert to look more into Lake County’s lake health.
Eggert is well-versed in the world of water. She’s the founder of Global Water Works, a nonprofit aiming to address water sustainability issues across the world, and she’s traveled across the globe connecting people to help share techniques and solutions. Eggert was aware of the issues with her home’s lakes, but always felt it wasn’t possible to address.
It was during a trip to India several years ago that she learned about the enzyme technique, and it drove her to meet with her neighbors.
“I said, ‘Guys, if we can heal this problem, why don’t we do something about it?,’” she recalled.
The group gained momentum as it connected with more interested residents. Today, it boasts more than 160 members, who help with water health, education, outreach and fundraising.
The reality of Lake County’s lakes was shocking for some residents, including Sawle. She admitted she had assumed they were being cared for by someone, but was surprised to learn many were essentially “orphaned.”
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“Nobody is responsible for cleaning up these lakes,” Sawle said.
Libertyville couple Chuck and Sandy Likus, who are helping monitor Long Lake, were also surprised by the data. While they’ve seen their fair share of algae, learning that 70% of the lakes were impaired was a shock.
“We knew from Loch Lomond that there was an algae problem, because they would always be cutting that back, cleaning out your beach area,” Sandy Likus said. “I didn’t really realize that it was that bad in all of Lake County.”
Lake Lovers’ data on trends of each participating lake is publicly available online, and includes measurements of water clarity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and phosphate concentration.