August 2012 edition - Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council

August 2012
Volume 18, Issue 3
Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Work and play, that’s what adds balance to our lives. I shot
the photos above to record a couple of the things we have
been busy with this year, and to share them with you. The
photo on the left shows just a few of the forty one eager
canoeists and kayakers getting ready for the first Lake Fest
Canoe/Kayak/SUP Poker Run sponsored by Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council and the Lake Maxinkuckee Association. This was LMEC’s way to get people out on the lake,
under their own power, to enjoy the views and have some fun.
The photo on the top right is of your great LMEC team on a
ninety five degree day in June. We were planting 407 flowering plants along the newly formed bank of the Kline Ditch as it
runs onto Mystic Hills golf course.
More on these projects can be found later in this newsletter.
I have never been so proud of the members of the environmental council as I have been this year. While the project
load has been very heavy, each and every one of them has
come when needed. With busy work schedules, and time
short, they’ve shown up for every project — with smiles on
their faces and a work ethic that is hard to find today.
My heartfelt thanks go out to Mr. Dan Baughman (Teacher,
newly retired this spring from the Culver Academies), Mr. Dan
Osborn (President and Co-owner of Osborn Seed Company),
Mr. Gary Shaffer (Owner of Shaffer Lake Services), Mr. Bill
Rhodes (Owner of Indiana Supermarkets, Inc. d/b/a Park N.
Shop, Save A Lot stores, and Charlie’s convenience stores),
Ms. Tammy Shaffer (White Wood Coordinator, Elkay Products
-Medallion Cabinetry, Owner of Spa2Max, mental health
technician at Michiana Behavioral Health, Vice President of
the Culver Park Board), Dr. John Bernero (Cardiologist), Mr.
Dusty Henricks (retired engineer), and last but never least, our
wonderful chairman, Mr. Allen Chesser (Vice President, 1st
National Bank of Monterey, Winamac). Who ever said “ask a
busy person to do something, and it will get done”
wasn’t lying!
New reports are out that West Nile virus has been found in
mosquitoes in Marshall County and 61 other counties throughout Indiana. The drought has left many places filled with
non-flowing water. Please be sure to keep water from sitting
in anything in your yard, old tires, gutters, pet bowls, etc. Use
mosquitoes sprays for protection and dress with long sleeves
and pants if going out in the evening in wooded areas or near
water.
A MIDNIGHT RIDE WITH THE DNR - aka “Finding
Spooky Fish”, or “How to Find the West Side Landing
Using GPS!”
These last few months have been very busy, but nothing I’ve
done was as fun as joining Tom Bacula, biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, while he and his team
did some electro-fishing on Lake Maxinkuckee June 25th. Tom
says the DNR is compiling a new fish report that should rival
any done in the past (except for the one from 1901 which is
printed in two volumes). This was just one of many late night
runs he made hoping to identify as many species of fish in Lake
Maxinkuckee as possible. Being so hot, it was a little rough
finding any fish at all still swimming in the very shallow waters
along the shore.
Leaving the west shore
DNR landing at 10 at
night, we headed west
and north along the
shore, following some
trap lines they had set
in the shallow waters
among the piers. Nothing was trapped on the
night we were out.
Tom, who was running
the boat, had his two
assistants stand at the
front rails with long
nets. Running slowly,
he would drop the two
(continued next page)
The top photo is of a gar with his mouth held open to show me
the VERY pointy teeth—think barracuda! On the photo immediately above, you can just make out the two circular, 9 foot
long, electrified metal frames on the front of the flat bottomed
boat before they are lowered into the water, and then charged
by a very large battery.
August 2012
BLUE-GREEN ALGAE REPORT As part of
a program lead by the Marshall County
Health Department, every lake in the county
was tested the week of August 6th for toxicity levels of microcystin stemming from bluegreen algae.
The State of Indiana’s action level is six
parts per billion - that reads as 6 ug/l. Our
testing was done by Commonwealth Biomonitoring and the results are as follows:
Pretty Lake
<0.02 ug/l
Kreighbaum Lake
0.12 ug/l
Cook Lake
0.14 ug/l
Lake of the Woods
0.16 ug/l
Dixon Lake
0.18 ug/l
Koontz Lake
0.20 ug/l
Lake Maxinkuckee - public beach 0.23 ug/l
Holem Lake
0.25 ug/l
Hawk Lake
0.28 ug/l
Galbraith
0.30 ug/l
Lake Maxinkuckee - CMA beach 0.42 ug/l
Flat Lake
0.48 ug/l
Millpond
0.65 ug/l
Lawrence Lake
0.75 ug/l
Myers
0.75 ug/l
Lake Latonka
0.90 ug/l
As you can see, every lake in the county is
below 1 ug/l, so we are safely below the
state’s action level of 6 ug/l. The Marshall
County Lakes & Waters Council, of which
LMEC is a member, will be discussing future
monitoring of this toxin.
Page 2
CANOE/KAYAK/SUP POKER RUN A SUCCESS
This fun event was considered a good time by all
and paddlers and helpers alike were asking when
the next one would be held. Homeowners and
LMEC council members passed out playing cards
at the different piers, along with Jane Grund, Executive Director of LMA who manned the last pier.
Marshall County Recorder Marlene Mahler, joined
Executive Director of the LMEC, Kathy Clark, to
handle last minute registration and record the
playing hands as paddlers returned to the park
beach. It only took one hour for everyone to be
back, and when asked if we could make it longer
next year there was a resounding NO! Kim Hamilton said the short route was just long enough to
have fun and still be home to join the rest of her
family at the Semler pier. Josh Berindei and his
buddies, who did the long route, claimed it was
just long enough to make it a great workout and
still be a good time. The Semler family, the
Bilsland family, the
Barnes family, and
Suzanne King and
her daughters all
helped to pass out
cards to the paddlers
along the way.
Pictured at right is
Jenny, Elizabeth and
Amy Levett, winners
of the short route.
(Midnight Ride continued from first page) metal poles into the lake and then turn on the
battery - feeding an electrical charge into the water. The process of electro-fishing doesn’t kill
the fish, it simply stuns them for two to three seconds, allowing them to be netted and dumped
into a tank that sits in the middle of the boat. With spotlights on and aimed into the lake, it was
still hard to see some of the fish that briefly floated to the surface once stunned. They would net
for fifteen minutes then turn off the battery. One person would measure each fish, identify it and
weigh it, while the other wrote everything down. Once everything was recorded, the fish were
released back into the lake. They pulled out two gar, which I had never
seen up close before! I was amazed to find from their preliminary fish
report that they actually caught a 48.5 inch long gar!
Local fisherman Jim Weirick, asked me to get the scoop on where the
walleye were being found, and I did ask. Unfortunately they weren’t telling, except to say that they were all staying very deep due to the heat.
Following is a list of the fish they identified while doing this study - from
highest number to lowest: Rock bass, yellow perch, bluegill, smallmouth bass, walleye, largemouth bass, longnose gar (48.5 inches!), gizzard shad, spotted gar, black crappie, brook silverside, spotfin shiner, longear sunfish, white bass, shortnose gar, yellow bullhead, bowfin, channel
catfish, logperch, warmouth, white sucker, emerald shiner, brown bullhead, bluntnose minnow,
and pumpkinseed. I will write more about this when the DNR report is completed.
When we returned, we found that none of the lights at the public access were working. We had
to use GPS to find our way back to the landing due to the darkness. I called a NIPSCO
representative the next day and it turned out that he was an avid fisherman. Consequently, he
went right out the following week and fixed all the lights along this section of shore.
First place winner on the
long route was James
Schuller, pictured above.
Second place was taken
by Richard Matkovich
(no photo available)
Our very happy third
place winner was Eric
Clark shown below.
August 2012
Page 3
MYSTIC HILLS SEDIMENT TRAP IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS Completed with the financial assistance of the Richard C.
Vonnegut Jr. Fund, this project should not only bring color to this corner of our watershed, but also help stop nutrients from
entering the Kline Ditch as it runs through the golf course and into the Maxinkuckee Wetland and Conservation Area. As soon as
LMEC was awarded the $6,500 grant from the Vonnegut Fund this spring, contracts were let to both Weidner & Sons Excavating
and Cardno-JFNew. Bill Weidner himself did the ditch modifications from 117 to the outlet pipe shown below, then on down the
ditch towards the lake, widening and deepening the stream as he moved along. This deeper area will allow the water flowing
from the farms in Fulton County to drop their sediment into the ditch here, instead of at the wetlands next to the lake. The digging
was done over a two day period June 18th and 19th, ending with Weidner spreading flower and grass seed and laying straw
blankets down along the stream bank. Then on June 20th every member of the LMEC came and began planting into the blankets
407 flowering plants, both in the water and up the bank. Mystic Hills owner Vicki Pugh had her groundskeeper, Earl Ogle, water
the plants during the drought. He did this by setting up a pump in the ditch and spraying the hillside, managing to keep
everything alive in this weather, a miracle in itself. We look forward to next spring, when everything should start blooming. The
following photos are of the LMEC at work.
2.
3.
1.
1. Tammy and
Allen. 2. Bill
and Gary.
3. Allen and
John. 4. Bill,
Dusty, Tammy, and Allen.
5. Gary and
Dan O. 6.
Dan B. Not
pictured,
Kathy Clark.
4.
5.
6.
August 2012
Climate Change Article - SERIOUS DROUGHT
HOW IT AFFECTS THE LAKE AND ITS WATERSHED - updated to July/August
The current drought has state meteorologists claiming this one is as bad as the drought of
the thirties, the one known as The Great Dustbowl. You can look at Indiana on the 1936
Palmer Index map to your right. The July 2012 Palmer Index map also shown here demonstrates the most recent data released by the National Climatic Data Center, which is part of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. July is reported to be the hottest on
record for Indiana. (See July Statewide Ranks map) The area of the country in the worst
drought categories (extreme to exceptional drought) doubled from 10 percent last month to
22 percent this month.
The general area of Lake Maxinkuckee contains one of the best producing aquifer systems
in Indiana. The Generalized Ground-Water map provided here shows all of Indiana’s
aquifers. Starting about 70 to 80 feet down in the earth, is a “body of water” that can
produce 600 gallons of water per minute when pumped through municipal wells. Most of
north central Indiana has ground-water resources that are classified as being good to
excellent, unlike those in much of the rest of the state, or even just to the east in Starke
County. Major areas of ground-water availability extend from this region, to further north,
in the productive Silurian-Devonian bedrock aquifer system. This system contains deposits
of glacial material up to 500 feet in thickness with highly productive inter-till sand and gravel
aquifers. Lake Maxinkuckee is a glacial kettle lake, 88 feet in depth, that is fed by 21
underground springs stemming from this aquifer.
The Marshall County Soil Report recently noted that Plymouth usually has about 37 inches
of total participation each year, most of which, 22 inches, or 60 percent, falls in April
through September. Thunderstorms occur on about 43 days each year, most in summer.
Reports just released by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service, show that Plymouth received only 6.75 inches of rain between April 1st
and July 22nd of this year. That puts them in a “rain deficit” of 8.12 inches as of this date.
Rochester has had only 7.20 inches so far this year which gives them a rain deficit of 7.11
inches for the same time period. According to many sources, it appears that this drought
may last a few more months at the very least.
Local corn crops have been damaged, depending on if a farmer has had the means to
irrigate his fields or not. This irrigation can come from ditches that run through farms, which
are also used to water their livestock, or from wells. The 183,000 irrigated acres in northwest Indiana make up almost 60% of the State’s irrigation capacity. The current average
investment exceeds $1000 per acre. Some farmers are, or have been, contemplating
chopping drought stressed corn for silage to supplement a shortened livestock feed supply.
This is part of our food system folks – reports are already in that food prices will rise by
about 4% next year. Droughts can have long term ramifications.
Farmers have another problem, their livestock pastures. Many are experiencing grass
shortages due to the drought conditions and now need to keep their animals from eating
toxic weeds. These poisonous species may exist regularly in pastures, but are typically
avoided by livestock due to their lack of palatability. With these drought conditions resulting
in a shortage of favorable grass and forage, livestock may be forced to graze these toxic
plants. Please refer to the ANOMOLOUS Percent of Pasture & Range Land in “Poor” and
“Very Poor” Condition map on the following page to understand the farmers’ plight. The
“plus” numbers represent the number in distress ABOVE the norm of last records or
compared to the norm of past records. For the record, the USDA shows that thirty years of
increasing irrigation to farm fields have not impacted municipal water well depths, which is
where the strength of our aquifers is measured.
Even the recreational things we do during summer are being greatly affected. The Culver
Academies had to pull their sailing ship, the Ledbetter, out of the lake. Some people
around the region have boats that are now stranded on their boat lifts, propellers have been
broken by rocks never seen at “normal” lake levels, though you can thank The Lake Maxinkuckee Association for recently placing some buoys at some spots on the lake marked
“Rock”.
Page 4
August 2012
Page 5
Fish in the lake are hiding deeper and deeper in the cooler water as temperatures
soar but oxygen levels at these depths are being depleted by the heat and lack of
flowing water. Deer, wild turkeys, and other animals are facing food and water
shortages in the areas where they normally travel and live and may be falling victim to
diseases.
As a member of the Marshall County Lakes & Waters Council, I just participated in a
Marshall County Health Department initiative to pull water samples from every lake in
the county and have them sent to a lab for toxicity tests. We here at Lake Maxinkuckee, as well as the people at Lost Lake are relieved to know that there are no toxic
levels of blue-green algae in either lake, or any lake in Marshall County. (see article
earlier in this newsletter) The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is
so short staffed that they can only test state run lakes. The LMEC tests for bluegreen algae twice each month for Indiana University as a matter of course and would
alert the health department if any toxic levels are ever found. You can visit
www.idem.IN.gov to get facts about the signs of cyanobacteria poisoning, as well as
a list of lakes with current algae warnings.
We at the LMEC believe droughts to be natural events and would not support any
actions being taken now that might cause an unknown impact later, like trying to drill
a well to pump water into the lake. We know that such an action has failed to help
Bass Lake retain its water levels during this drought, even though Bass Lake is much
shallower than Lake Maxinkuckee. Remember, our lake is fed by a significant
number of underground streams.
Anyone pulling water from the lake to water their lawn should try to reduce their
watering, possibly by focusing their watering efforts only on their wooded plants,
flowers, and young trees. One tree will take up ¾ of an inch of ground water on a
ninety degree day when a 30 mile per hour wind is blowing. If you must water, one
inch of water a week should keep things from drying up completely. LMEC feels
anyone using their own personal wells to water lawns should do the same. Reports
across Indiana show that some reservoirs around Indianapolis are down as much as
twelve feet and it was reported by their water department that 40% of water usage is
from watering lawns. This can be a serious issue when you are also drawing your
drinking water from the same reservoir system. Other lakes in our area are down
four to eight feet because their aquifers are less productive than the beneath us.
Lake Maxinkuckee was down eighteen inches in mid July. Remember, the amount of
shore now bare, does not equate to the water level.
The small rain showers we have had the past couple of weeks have “greened up”
your lawn a little, but one inch of rain does little to replenish the lake level. The
recharge rate for the aquifer is about 8 inches out of the normal 35 – 37 inches of rain
we usually receive from April through September. You could relate one inch of rain to
the lake surface by using the following equation. If it takes 50 gallons of water to put
down one inch of rain on 100 square feet of area, and Lake Maxinkuckee has
80,760,240 square feet of surface area or 807,602 one hundred square foot
‘sections’, it would take 40,380,120 gallons of water to put one inch of water on the
lake’s surface.
Some say that droughts are often nature’s way of leveling the playing field. Indiana
Department of Natural Resources biologists have been fielding reports that low,
stagnant water and algae blooms are causing fish kills, primarily with cool-water
species such as the predatory Asian carp – which isn’t a bad thing, although other
fish species are also being affected. Deer and wild turkey populations may drop as a
result of this sustained drought, but they will certainly survive. The drought impacts
Ash trees by allowing insects such as the emerald ash borer easier access. The
Town of Culver only has about thirteen ash trees in town, but we know that the
emerald ash borer is already in Rochester so we may lose these few trees.
Sources for this article were provided by NOAA, USGS, USDA, IDEM, IDNR, Fulton
County Extension Office, the Town of Culver, Marshall County Health Department,
LMEC, as well as many individuals. I want to thank them all for their valuable assistance.
Drought-related Disease Killing
Deer EHD (Epizootic hemorrhage
disease) is a drought-related virus that
is killing off deer in our state as well as
in Michigan and Illinois. There are
fears that this is going to turn into an
epidemic.
I had contacted personnel from DNR in
mid May about reports of this spreading
faster than normal in Illinois and was
told then that it had never been found in
our area before.
Unfortunately, now, with such a severe
drought in our area, DNR is looking for
signs that this has spread to our region.
As many as fifty deer were found dead,
clustered along a shoreline in southern
Indiana.
A small fly called a biting midge, found
in the newly exposed sand along the
shoreline, can infect the deer population with this potentially deadly disease.
This will continue until the first frost.
EHD does not affect humans or pets,
though in 2007 an EHD outbreak
slashed the deer population by 30 to 40
percent.
Report any lethargic or nonresponsive
deer found near water to DNR officials
immediately so they can come and take
samples from the deer.
August 2012
Volume 18
Issue 3
The beetle that was pictured in our previous newsletter has been
identified by Ted and Chuckie Strang’s son Carl. Carl is employed
as a naturalist in the Office of Education - Mayslake, Forest
Preserve District of DuPage County, IL.
Carl says it is a goldsmith beetle (Cotalpa lanigera), a member of
the scarab family. The adults eat leaves of willow and cottonwood,
while larvae feed on roots of various plants. It is usually found
close to lakes or rivers. Thank you Carl Strang!
www.CULVERLMEC.com
Lake Maxinkuckee
Environmental Council
Allen Chesser, Chair
Dusty Henricks
Dan Osborn
Bill Rhodes
Dan Baughman
Gary Shaffer
Dr. John Bernero
Tammy Shaffer
Lake Maxinkuckee
Environmental Fund
Carol Zeglis, President
Litt Clark, Vice President
Merritt Becker, Treasurer
Mary Anna Swennumson, IPP
Alan Chesser, Council Chair
Kevin Berger
Jim Sturman
Marabeth Levett
Pam Buxton, Advisor
Tom Sams, Advisor
Tom Story, Advisor
574-842-3685
116 N. Main St. Culver Indiana
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P.O. Box 187 Culver, IN 46511