Lake progress discussed at Rotary - Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather Sports

Lake progress discussed at Rotary

As Memorial Day approaches, proponents of Grand Lake St. Marys are sharing the progress being made to restore it back to health.

Lake Restoration Commission manager, Milt Miller, updating members of the St. Marys Rotary Club on progress at Grand Lake. Miller addressing some of the business leaders major concerns about the lake including the color of the water. Over the last few weeks the lake has developed a brown tint. Miller says, the lake is typically a bluish-green color. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency collected samples of the water in an effort to figure out the color change. Those results are still pending. However, Miller also had officials at Celina's water treatment plant test the water.

"What they're telling us is the brown that we're seeing is just dying algae," said Miller

Once again, Miller says the state test results concerning the color change have yet to be released. State park employees also teamed up with the U.S. Geological Survey to test the lake for e-coli and microcystin toxins, which are caused by blue-green algae blooms. Results of those tests are expected to be posted on the Ohio EPA website Thursday afternoon.

On a side note, Miller also showed off an image of the lake taken from Google Earth satellites. The picture was taken while the lake was being treated with aluminum sulfate in an effort to reduce harmful algae blooms. The initial effect of the alum shows up as the rectangular shape visible from the overhead angle.