Indian Lake water rated 'excellent'
By Jack Webb
Executive Director Indian Lake Watershed Project

“It’s official,” said Frank Phelps, area farmer and chairperson of the tri-county Indian Lake Watershed Project. “The water quality of the lake’s largest tributary carrying more than 50 percent of the area runoff and containing the heaviest concentration of livestock has received an ‘excellent water quality rating’ from an independent and credible source.”

Six years ago, the Indian Lake Watershed Project contracted with the University of Dayton to monitor and perform water quality testing at Indian Lake and on each of its main tributaries.

Annually, Professor Bro. Dan Klco brings students on weekend field trips to Indian Lake to perform water quality sampling at numerous sites throughout the watershed.

“We always knew the changes farmers have made would have a positive impact, but none of us thought we would be able to bring so many tiny organisms back to life in these streams so quickly,” Mr. Phelps said.

Projects like this are long term, often taking 50 years or more for nature to re-establish these key indicators of a stream’s water quality, officials have found.

From the onset of this project in 1990, farmers have demonstrated their willingness to contribute toward improving Indian Lake’s water quality by trading in their moldboard plows for no-till equipment, fencing livestock from streams, building wetlands and establishing grass filter strips to name a few of the best management practices used by today’s watershed farmers.

In the report released Feb. 1 by the University of Dayton, the South Fork of the Great Miami River produced five sensitive species and three somewhat sensitive species of micro invertebrate organisms when tested Sept. 22. This same test area near Belle Center received “good” ratings in both May and June 2007.

“We are thrilled for both the users of Indian Lake and farmers in the watershed,” said Dave Leiter, ILDC president and Richland Township Trustee. “Farmers can take a lot of pride along with the sanitary sewer system in helping to make Indian Lake’s water quality safe for swimming and fishing once again.”

The university and the ILWP are in the process of extending this partnership an additional two years as the watershed project continues revisions of the watershed action plan and mission statement.

Jack Webb, ILWP executive director, said Ohio EPA officials will conduct a total maximum daily load study in the Upper Miami River Watershed Basin.

“The survey results are crucial in identifying any isolated sources of water quality degradation and can help a watershed target its resources,” said Mr. Webb.