Iowa Great Lakes Watershed

John Wills - Project Coordinator for the Iowa Great Lakes Watershed

Little Spirit Lake, a shallow, windswept lake, is threatened by high nutrient levels, which can lead to poor water quality and cloud the water. Connecting at the northern end of East Lake Okoboji at the Hinshaw Bridge, Upper Gar is also threatened by high nutrient levels, specifically phosphorus. These levels can lead to low oxygen and high ammonia levels, which are harmful to fish and other aquatic life and lead to potentially toxic algae blooms.

Approximately 242 acres, Lower Gar is plagued by the same problem of high nutrient levels as Little Spirit Lake and Upper Gar. Lower Gar has an average depth of only six feet, so high levels of nutrients lead to poor water quality rather easily.

The Iowa Great Lakes Watershed Project also works to maintain and protect the high level of water quality in the other Great Lakes. The project has a number of conservation practices for farm, country and urban living. Landowners in the Iowa Great Lakes watershed can improve the lakes by partnering with the Iowa Great Lakes Watershed Project.

Landowners in the Iowa Great Lakes region, specifically the Little Spirit Lake region, are practicing whole farm planning. Whole farm planning helps reduce soil erosion by distributing only enough soil as necessary for crop production and leaves crop residue on the ground surface.

The Upper Gar watershed also has a number of conservation practices that are helping reduce the high nutrient levels threatening the lake. Landowners are practicing whole farm planning, such as minimum tillage, to reduce soil erosion.

One conservation practice installed in the Lower Gar watershed is the use of low-impact pervious pavement. Pervious pavement is designed to let stormwater soak through the surface into the soil below, where the water is naturally filtered to reduce pollutants.

Landowners in the Lower Gar watershed are also installing rain gardens to counter high nutrient levels. Rain gardens are shallow depressions in a yard that are planted with native wetland or prairie wildflowers and grasses. They absorb hundreds of gallons of rain that would otherwise wash pollution down the street into the nearest river, stream or lake.

The Iowa Great Lakes watershed just completed a multi-year watershed assessment using high resolution photography. A new technology called LiDAR - or Light Detection and Ranging - was used in the Iowa Great Lakes region. LiDAR is an interactive topographic map with elevation data accurate within inches of actual elevations. LiDAR is a process of scanning the earth with lasers from an aircraft to obtain accurate elevations. LiDAR has been used to map the Iowa Great Lakes watershed, and has many potential uses for landowners, including: reduction of planning costs for soil conservation structures like terraces and sediment ponds; erosion potential measurements and modeling; floodplain and flood insurance mapping; permitting for animal feeding operations (floodplains and slope); and evaluating the performance of conservation practices.

Landowners can consider installing conservation practices to control the high nutrient levels and other pollutants reaching the Iowa Great Lakes watershed.

Financial assistance is available, and the benefits extend beyond cleaner water - often conservation practices can produce financial benefits, create recreational opportunities and provide habitat for wildlife.

Residents in Arnolds Park are participating in IOWATER. Monitors collect information on the levels of nitrates, nitrites, dissolved oxygen, pH, chloride and phosphate in creeks, steams and the lake. Some monitors also report on the water's temperature and color, and on biological life in the monitoring area, which is often an indicator of water quality. Monitors report their data to the IOWATER online database, where the public can view water monitoring results from across the state.

The future of the Iowa Great Lakes looks promising and with continued conservation practices throughout the region, the Iowa Great Lakes will continue to have the highest water quality in the state.

John Wills, project coordinator for the Iowa Great Lakes Watershed Project, is no stranger to improving water quality in the area. Wills worked on the Iowa Great Lakes Clean Water Project from 1993 to 1999, and rejoined the effort to improve the lakes as project coordinator in January 2008.

"My expectations for this project are rather large," said Wills. "All the indicators are here that the people within Dickinson County are ready to do good things for the water quality of their lakes."

Wills grew up and attended high school in Sibley, about half an hour away from the lakes. He holds an Associates Degree in Environmental Studies from Iowa Lakes Community College (1987), a Bachelor Degree in Biology from Northwestern College (1989), and just finished his Masters Degree in Political Science from the American Public University (2008).

Before returning to the Iowa Lakes project, Wills taught biology, served in the U.S. Army and worked for the Loess Hills Alliance. Thanks to past efforts to improve the lakes, Wills believes they are some of the best in the state, but efforts are needed to keep it that way.

"Water quality never stays the same- it is always either getting better or worse," said Wills. "It is the choice of each person the direction the water quality is going."

To learn more about how you can help, contact John Wills, Iowa Great Lakes watershed project coordinator, at (712) 336-3782 ext. 3 or John.Wills@ia.nacdnet.net

Text edited from the DNR website