These are the unofficial results from the water sampling conducted by me on 6/26/2006 around 2:00pm. These results should be official early next week.  I don’t plan to update this notice unless something changes

#1    Dock                           173 estimated  cfu
#2    Cedar Fork Creek      127 estimated cfu
#3    Booker Creek            127 estimated cfu
 
Caution level is individual reading above 400 cfu, or average above 200 cfu. 

Lake water temp:
29 C (Dock)
29 C (Cedar Fork Creek forebay)
28 C (Booker Creek inlet arm)

As in May, It drizzled the morning before the test and rained hard later in the day.  It had also rained pretty hard on Saturday evening after the party and it drizzled most of Sunday.  I went ahead and took the samples on Monday because it looked like we were in for several days of harder rain and I wanted to get results before the July-4 weekend. The fecal counts are way up but still well in the safe range.  This higher reading is probably the direct result of the recent hard rains flushing ground waste (from animals and birds) into the lake.  We are not supposed to sample right after a hard rain because this flushing produces an artificial and temporary elevation of fecal coliform bacteria.  This was not right after a hard rain, but the elevated count reinforces that guideline.

Looking back into the late 1990s when we had regular sewer spills and took tests on much closer intervals, this sort of contamination clears out in a day or two after the rain stops,  or it drops off after the ground gets “washed clean”.

In general, the lake seems to be doing fine.   We had some inquiries about the dissolved oxygen (DO) earlier in the month when the aesthetic quality of the lake water seemed to be deteriorating.  This test was recommended by OWASA about 6 years ago,  and they had offered to make the equipment available to us on an experimental basis.  I believe the equipment is pretty expensive.  We no longer have that relationship and we don’t have access to the equipment or expertise to take this test.

The inquiry came while we were having a drought and water was moving slowly through the lake system.  Every year, usually in June, we experience a die-off of algae that overgrows in late spring.  That leaves some debris in the water, which has been flushed out with the recent rain.   The next predictable event occurs in early August if we have a hot July and little rain between now and then.  The water will get hot and there may be a visible coating of goose down in the areas not frequented by bathers.

Also observed on the day of the test:  24 large geese in a yard on the N. side of the lake near the Booker Creek sample site.  On the day of the test (two days after our neighborhood party), the amount of goose waste at the park on the lawn and on both docks was remarkable!   Our park staff expressed an interest in putting up either the mylar tape or some CD scare-goose deterrents.  Jay Parker commented after the last water test that the Mylar tape seemed to be effective in the past, and we should devise some quick and easy way to put it up at the end of each staff work shift. If anyone reading this has supplies or suggestions, please contact me or the park staff directly. 

Chuck Henage