blake
Life Member
From the Iowa DNR website:
Water Level Lowered at Trumbull Lake
Trumbull Lake is nothing like it used to be, the locals say. The 1,200-acre lake in Clay County is suffering from poor water quality, a fishery that has been sporadic and dominated by common carp. Waterfowl use has also significantly diminished.
At the encouragement of local citizens, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has begun a partial water drawdown as an experiment to see how this lake with its huge watershed would respond.
“This will be a learning experience for us with a watershed and lake of this size. This work will provide good information down the road if and when we were to tackle it with a full lake renovation,” said Bryan Hellyer, wildlife biologist for the DNR’s Prairie Lakes Unit in northwest Iowa.
“We did a similar project at West Swan Lake a few years ago and were successful at getting some aquatic plants reestablished. We saw a response in improved water quality and improved fish and wildlife habitat,” he said.
Hellyer said they wanted to take advantage of the dry spring to get some plants established but Trumbull has such a large watershed that if there are rain events, the lake could fill back up and nullify any plant growth.
The water level drawdown is temporary and not a full drawdown. Officials do not intend to affect the fishery and plan to gradually refill the lake by fall.
Water Level Lowered at Trumbull Lake
Trumbull Lake is nothing like it used to be, the locals say. The 1,200-acre lake in Clay County is suffering from poor water quality, a fishery that has been sporadic and dominated by common carp. Waterfowl use has also significantly diminished.
At the encouragement of local citizens, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has begun a partial water drawdown as an experiment to see how this lake with its huge watershed would respond.
“This will be a learning experience for us with a watershed and lake of this size. This work will provide good information down the road if and when we were to tackle it with a full lake renovation,” said Bryan Hellyer, wildlife biologist for the DNR’s Prairie Lakes Unit in northwest Iowa.
“We did a similar project at West Swan Lake a few years ago and were successful at getting some aquatic plants reestablished. We saw a response in improved water quality and improved fish and wildlife habitat,” he said.
Hellyer said they wanted to take advantage of the dry spring to get some plants established but Trumbull has such a large watershed that if there are rain events, the lake could fill back up and nullify any plant growth.
The water level drawdown is temporary and not a full drawdown. Officials do not intend to affect the fishery and plan to gradually refill the lake by fall.