From 04/30/19 to 05/07/19 the microcystins levels have more than doubled. We are currently 79.7 ppb. With fields drying out, farmers are now dumping their long-held manure pits into Grand Lake St. Marys (GLSM) again. With this careless agricultural practice comes more danger to the Celina water supply and those using GLSM for recreational use.
Let's look at a couple of incidences this spring which affected many of us. A recent presentation by a Park official explained that much of the flooding was partially due to the amount of water coming into the lake this spring. GLSM area had nearly 10" of rain in two months this spring. So, the volume of rain was greater than usual, however, as he explained, one the greatest problems were how quickly the rain entered the lake. This goes to another outlandish agricultural problem in the GLSM watershed - drain tiles. There are too many drain tiles in our watershed. Drain tiles should be used to simply drain low lying areas in a farmer's field. In our watershed, there are drain tiles nearly every ten feet in the fields whether they are needed or not. So, when heavy rains are experienced the amount of rain coming into the lake increases tremendously. A good example is it is like flushing a toilet upstream. The drain tiles prevent the fields from absorbing the rain which then gradually enters the lake.
Those who suffered from the recent flooding at GLSM has drain tiles in the fields and the farmers who uses them to thank for your problems.
Let's look at a couple of incidences this spring which affected many of us. A recent presentation by a Park official explained that much of the flooding was partially due to the amount of water coming into the lake this spring. GLSM area had nearly 10" of rain in two months this spring. So, the volume of rain was greater than usual, however, as he explained, one the greatest problems were how quickly the rain entered the lake. This goes to another outlandish agricultural problem in the GLSM watershed - drain tiles. There are too many drain tiles in our watershed. Drain tiles should be used to simply drain low lying areas in a farmer's field. In our watershed, there are drain tiles nearly every ten feet in the fields whether they are needed or not. So, when heavy rains are experienced the amount of rain coming into the lake increases tremendously. A good example is it is like flushing a toilet upstream. The drain tiles prevent the fields from absorbing the rain which then gradually enters the lake.
Those who suffered from the recent flooding at GLSM has drain tiles in the fields and the farmers who uses them to thank for your problems.