Commission pushes dredging to save Grand Lake

ST. MARYS — Efforts to save Grand Lake St. Marys will work, a member of the commission tasked with the lake’s restoration said Wednesday.

Success will depend on folks who care about the lake and region continuing to work together to find and finance solutions. That’s the message Milt Miller, fundraising chairman for the Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration Commission, made to members of the St. Marys Rotary Club.

“In this particular case all of us to a man and a woman are passionately committed to fixing this problem,” Miller said. “This problem will be fixed. We will not rest until it is because it is too important.”

Miller said commission members are encouraged by efforts being made by the state to address the situation. Gov. Ted Strickland last week announced that new rules will be enforced in December preventing the application of manure and fertilizers to farmland in the winter months. All farms in the watershed will also be required to submit nutrient management plans to state regulators aimed at reducing the flow of nutrients into the lake.

Excess nutrients, particularly phosphorus, have fed blooms of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, that have produced toxins that prompted state officials to urge no contact whatsoever with the lake’s water.

The state will also be conducting studies of introducing alum and silica into the lake, Miller said. The alum test is designed to bind to the phosphorus and sink it making it unavailable to feed the harmful algae. Additional silica could be introduced to help nonharmful algae thrive and out-duel the cyanobacteria for resources.

Miller said in-lake dredging is the easiest solution to eliminate the phosphorus-rich silt already in the lake. The commission is refining plans for a series of large islands in the middle of the lake where the dredged material could be placed.

“We all know in life it’s easy to say, ‘No, it can’t be done.’ We’re not going to accept that answer,” Miller said. “We’re going to fix this lake and one of the key ingredients to fixing it is the in-lake loading. The solution everybody agrees on is dredging.”

The creation of islands is a key component from a cost-savings perspective, Miller said.

“We’re going to push hard for in-lake dredging, the creation of islands. It takes away the argument of expense,” he said. “Is it still expensive? Certainly, but not nearly the $80 [million] to $100 million we’re being told because that involves taking it off-site and that involves the acquisition of property, et cetera.”