Green Valley Lake

I have noticed a dissapointing decline in the condition of our lake. Not sure if it's due to maintenence, management or lack thereof, weather conditions or just the season. does anyone know what may be occurring? and what can we do about it?

GVLfamily you must have missed the "informational" shareholders' meeting at the clubhouse Saturday. A presentation was made by the Rec Co manager which offered some explanations/excuses for the condition of the lake and other issues were raised regarding various aspects of lake operations. I for one was not optimistic about things improving after what I heard but that is just my opinion. It is really too bad that the board of directors of the water company - the "parent" of the rec company - will not even entertain the idea of selling the lake. I am absolutely convinced that the current board of directors is not fulfilling its fiduciary duty to the shareholders for many different reasons, the foregoing being one of them.

I am out of town... can you perhaps share what was discussed at the meeting please

Please tell us what is wrong with the lake? If you remember last year the lake level was down 4 feet due to lack of rain and snow.

Basically we were informed that the lake is currently about 15ft deep in the center and about 30-40 feet deep at the dam. We were also told that the county had opened the chute at some point and the water released was clear and without sediment/mud. We were told that the various parties involved in the mud slides a few years ago are in "discussions" with the water company regarding liability for the resulting silt buildup etc..

Various people present expressed various opinions as to the condition of the lake. Weather, water temps, slit levels were presented as reasons/excuses for why the lake looked green - in response to those who said it looked green.

Discussion also took place regarding the fish, dead fish, cost of fishing, fishermen/women who don't pay, why they get away with not paying, etc.. Various staffing issues were also brought up.

Others who attended and who read this post may disagree with my "report" and I certainly wasn't taking notes. So I do hope those people will respond if they heard it or saw it differently.

The water level is down. The Lake really could benefit from being dredged and beach area needs alot of work to remove grass and weeds. The grounds are pretty clean, trees on Lakeside were recently trimmed and the Clubhouse/Water Company Building just received a new roof and exterior paint.

Things look to be headed foward with positive improvements. I just wish the "discussions" regarding the mud and silt would finalize, so the lake can be dredged and beach area improved.

The lake level is always lower this time of year, and usually looks a bit scrappy before the snow season. It will fill up again.

Also, silt happens.

Here are a few points I learned about the benifits of dredging a lake.

-Sediments are removed to improve navigation; restore recreational access for leisure boating, swimming, and fishing.

-Dredging also is done to remove nutrient-rich sediments, remove toxic substances, reduce rooted aquatic plant growth, lessen sediment resuspension by winds and waves, and improve fish habitat.

-Dredging sometimes can improve water quality by reducing the amount of nutrients available from the sediments, thereby reducing nuisance algae blooms. This can occur through direct removal of nutrient-rich sediments, or by deepening the lake enough to allow thermal stratification to develop and thereby limit nutrient movement from deep-water areas to the upper waters.

-Dredging in areas of rooted aquatic plants controls their growth through direct removal, and also can limit future regrowth if the new water depths are deeper than sunlight can reach.

-For lakes that freeze over in the winter, fish survival can be enhanced by removing oxygen-demanding sediments and creating deeper water areas.

lmg wrote: "silt happens" which is a good reason to dredge the lake.

yep

I have heard that the beach area is going to be dredged this fall and maybe around the cove, this will definately help the condition of the lake which this time of year looks bad with alge due to tempature of the water. I hope that we have a normal winter to help fill the lake.

That is good to know that there is a plan to dredge the beach and cove. I have actually seen that happen in the past.

From my research about the benefits of dredging a lake, I learned that the entire lake does not necessarily have to be dredged. Certain areas can be identified for dredging that would most benefit from the process.

Dredging can also cause toxins that may be burried beneath sediments to be released. So the core sediments should be analyzed by a professional before dredging.

I know that mother nature controls the water level of the lake. Each year the lake fills up with rain and snow melt. The lake was absolutely beautiful this past spring and early summer with water pouring out of the spill way for weeks.

I read on this thread that the county released water from our lake thru a chute. I do not know when that occurred but if it was recently, it could also be a factor why the water level is down. At least it tells me that our lake is being looked at and worked on and that's a good thing.

I was hoping for rain this summer that we didn't get. It's possible that the lack of moisture this summer was good because we did not incur additional mud run off into the lake.

Hopefully with a plan to dredge the beach and cove, eventually those white barriers can be removed and we will have a picture perfect lake again. Then maybe there can be some focus on smaller improvements ie: picnic tables, bar-b-que grills, etc.

Things are really looking up

I was there yesterday, mighty beautiful lake and town you have there! Great peeps too!

MTNJOESCHMO, I AGREE with you. Green Valley Lake is a beautiful lake and community. I also think the people there are great !