November Fall Clean Up / Managing Lake Nutrients –
It’s also a time where I can provide some education on how each of us can help mitigate impacts on our lake environment. As noted in previous articles and Association Communications, our lake ecosystem is out of whack. Higher than normal nutrients in the water is one of the top contributors we are working to mitigate through dredging and watershed silt mitigation plans. I will be providing a deep dive on this topic at the November Budget Meeting.
Being good stewards of our water includes management of our individual properties, including the Parkway if you are maintaining. While fertilizers and pesticides applied is not the primary cause of nutrient imbalance, it does contribute to the overall problem. Also, any grass clippings, leaves or other vegetation blown or dumped in the lake has an impact.
Mike Morlan director in N block volunteered to get some expert input from the Grass Pad. He also visited several retailers to get information on fertilizer supplies available to members that have zero Phosphates. Here is a summary of the feedback from the Grass Pad Lee’s Summit Store Manager.
Applications made to grass stay in the grass once watered in by rain or sprinkler systems. The fertilizer or pesticide that get sprayed onto sidewalks, driveways, and the street are the real culprits. It is important that they be blown back into the grass before watering in. If products are left on the concrete surfaces, then rainwater will carry them through the storm drain and into the lake. Service Providers many times overspray the material and don’t blow it back into the grass.
Other concerns for runoff into the storm drain would be soap from car washing in the driveway, lawn clippings, and fallen leaves from trees. Lawn clippings that get discharged into the street should be swept up or blown back into the lawn. 10 bags of lawn clippings have the equivalent of a 50 lb. bag of fertilizer. Fallen tree leaves should be mulched into the lawn with the mower or gathered into lawn bags. Grass and leaves should never be blown into the lake as they are one of the top contributors of algae blooms. To conserve moisture in the summer and reduce watering mow the grass at a taller setting in the 3.5 to 4inch range. Grass is the best filter for water before it gets to the lake. For DIY homeowners using a zero percent phosphate mix is optimal and available at several retailers. Each bag has a 3 # system for the % by weight of nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium. Use only products with 0 for the middle #, which is zero phosphorous.
Grass Carp – Redear Sunfish – an additional 800 Grass Carp were introduced into the lake October 2nd. The plan is to introduce more in the spring as part of a staggered introduction that provides for better long term management of the population. Grass Carp are used to help manage the aquatic vegetation like Naiad, Coon Tail, and other underwater grasses. Also, 33,000 Redear Sunfish will be stocked later this month to continue our battle to manage the Zebra Mussels. Our fishery committee is also working towards a species population analysis in the spring of 2027.
Road Culverts – our contractor ICON has just completed work on the last of our road culverts on the Northshore. The culvert at V block will be completed by the end of October. This leaves only the road culverts between Sunrise and Sunset coves as needing replacement. These are the biggest culverts on the lake and will be major projects similar to the low-water crossing project. The plan is to coordinate replacement with the building of the Sunrise Operations Base being planned. If you come to the November Annual Budget meeting you’ll see all the details of the projects.
Stafford Preserve – you will be getting the paper right after the Lot-A-Smoke event, so a big shout out to all the volunteers supporting the Parks & Recreation event. Also, with the completion of the event and preparation efforts all year long we are ready for the next Phase of the Preserve restoration with the planting of Bee and Butterfly habitat vegetation. This spring will be a whole new adventure for those who walk the preserve.
Dredging – when you read this article the dredge efforts should be nearing completion of the back of Waterfall Cove. Thank you to all the owners who moved their docks as required making the project more efficient and effective. As soon as we complete Waterfall the dredge will move back into Quantrill Cove and complete the work towards the back with docks removed. After completion the dredge will be removed for inspection and maintenance. This entails removal of all the Zebra Mussels and inspecting all the underwater structures, especially the hydraulic lines. For those in Big Rock you can mentally prepare for us to be moving docks in the back narrow sections of the Bay and starting back up with dredging early spring 2027. More details around the entire lake dredging preparation will be covered int the November Annual Budget meeting.
If you have questions or topics, you would like discussed regarding the Association, please feel free to drop me a note at President@lakelotawana.net.
Sincerely,
Jeff Clemow
President