Watershed Diagnostic Study Project Updates
May 25, 2023
The perpetual challenge for Clear Lake and most, if not all, glacial lakes in Indiana is to have an accurate understanding of nutrient and sediment loads entering and leaving the lake. This understanding is essential to improve or maintain the water quality.
Working with the team from our consultants Ecosystems Connections Institute, a robust experimental design has been created to establish sound ecological benchmarks that will be useful for understanding the nutrient and sediment loads entering and leaving the Clear Lake watershed.
By using an approach rooted in science, we can better identify projects that can improve our water quality and create productive partnerships to help us do that.
Pictured to the right is muddy water entering Clear Lake from the Cyrus Brouse Ditch following a recent storm event. A key goal of the Watershed Diagnostic Study is to identify and prioritize watershed improvement
projects that will improve the water flowing over, under and through the landscape into our lakes.
But first, we need the data. This is a long term project. Our plan to get reliable data is outlined below for the the next few years.
YEAR 3 (2023)
Putting the CLEAR back in Clear Lake.
Some good news on the water quality front: The Clear Lake Township Land Conservancy received a grant to help us work toward one of our key priorities: keeping our water quality pristine. Below are excerpts from the Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership (MGLP) April 2024 news release announcing a grant studying Clear Lake. The funds are to be used in 2024 and 2025.
“A major challenge for Clear Lake is to accurately quantify and understand lake external and internal nutrient and sediment loadings. This data is essential to improve or maintain the trophic status of the lake and fish habitat. Partnering with Ecosystems Connections Institute, MGLP will install a full water quality gage station at two major lake inflows and one partial gage station at the lake outflow. This study will provide data to improve water quality in Clear Lake and will be threaded into a forward-thinking education/outreach program to build a cultural conservation bridge that will create lasting conservation partnerships for Clear Lake watershed restoration and protection.”
WHAT'S NEW
Full Water Quality Gage Stations have been installed at the Harry Teeters Ditch inflow and at the Cyrus Brouse Ditch inflow. Water samples are now automatically being collected for analysis. A partial gage station continues to be maintained at the Round Lake exit.
The full gage stations measure key parameters including: Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and sediment loads for the water samples, and rainfall, water temperature, air temperature, and volume of water flow on the ditch inflow.
Pictured above is the full Water Quality Gage Station located on Settler's Wetland adjacent to the Cyrus Browse ditch. The same type of full Water Quality Gage Station is located on the corner of South Clear Lake Drive & East Clear Lake Drive adjacent to the Harry Teeters Ditch. Pictured to the right is the partial gage station at the Round Lake exit.
Year 2 (2022)
Three partial gage stations (pictured below on Harry Teeters Ditch) have been installed at the Round Lake outflow, Harry Teeters inflow, and Cyrus Brouse inflow.
Parameters being measured include: rainfall, water temperature, air temperature, and volume of water flow.
Grab samples are also being collected manually once each day during April-June and weekly January-March and July-December by our consultant team.
Lake sampling is being done at the two deepest portions of the lake once each month. A variety of parameters are being measured, including sediment and nutrients.
Results will be shared as they become available.
Year 1 (2020 & 2021)
Water samples are currently being taken manually by our consulting team (grab samples). Grab samples were collected monthly starting in October of
2020 at the Cyrus Brouse, Alvin Patterson, Peter Smith, and Harry Teeters ditch inflows, at the Round Lake exit, and in Clear Lake.
Results so far indicate:
- higher than desired nutrient levels and degraded water quality overall
- increased levels of sediments coming from Harry Teeters and Cyrus Brouse Ditch sub watersheds leading us to target these locations for partial gage stations (Year 2)
- Grab samples are not to effectively calculate nutrient loads, leading us to plan deployment of full automated gage stations (Year 3) to best identify future projects.