RSS Feed
Email Us
Follow Us
Like Us
Photo Gallery
GeistTV
Plan on making recreational use of the lake this summer? Let’s hope the reservoir’s health will not interfere with your boating and swimming outings again this year!
To improve and protect the water quality of the lake (and the home values of the community), residents have united and formed the Geist Watershed Alliance. This new organization is still in its infancy and is in the process of creating committees to carry out its mission. And it needs your involvement!
Monthly meetings and fun community events are being planned to build public awareness of the steps involved in protecting our watershed. The alliance’s activities will not necessarily seem like “work” will but be more of a way for people to connect with one another in the interest of keeping the reservoir a place that can be enjoyed.
One area of special focus will be to identify watershed-friendly home/garden products and services that can be recommended to homeowners. A committee is being formed which will not only research such products but also approach area merchants, requesting that they stock these products. For people serving on the Products and Services Committee, this will be a great way to get out and meet our local shop owners, as well as exert a positive influence on Geist’s marketplace.
Two other committees that need citizen involvement also are being formed . A Communications Committee will manage public awareness/education about watershed protection, and a Fundraising committee will plan and execute community events, as well as engage sponsors.
Already in the works is the Alliance’s participation in the upcoming Geist Half-Marathon, planned for May 17th. This will be an opportunity to not only raise a few dollars for its mission, but also to start bringing information to citizens about how they can help minimize the likelihood of future toxic blue-green algal blooms simply by making a few painless adjustments to their household practices.
Participation in the Alliance’s committees will not require a huge commitment of time or money. When enough people get involved, it should require only a few hours a month. The main objectives of the Alliance are to make community members aware of how their actions impact the reservoir and to help provide recommendations or options that will prevent further contamination of the water. This can be accomplished without volunteers having to invest massive amounts of energy.
Your community needs you! Please plan on attending the next meeting of the Geist Watershed Alliance:
Wednesday, February 20 at 7:00 pm
Geist Clubhouse – Admirals Landing
12549 Old Stone Drive
For More Information, contact:
Gail McDowell 317-507-3555 gmcdowell@c21rg.net
Scott Rogers 317-826-9551 scott@scottr.com
Dave Sylvester 317-418-5576 davemsyl@aol.com
As a resident I applaud your initiative in attempting to organize this alliance. I hope that you will be open in your attempts to help keep the watershed clean and available for every ones recreational enjoyment. I see in your initial statements that you plan on addressing problems like, the nutrients being washed in to the lake from the lawn and garden fertilizers and, I assume, the the erosion wash from construction around the lake. While these are very real and represent some of the real man made problems that are at the heart of the recent blue-green algae bloom. The one large and relatively new problem that I don’t seam to be hearing addressed is the waterfowl (specifically geese) waste problem that has developed and is rapidly increasing. The local populations of these animals is at an all time high and their wast is by far greater than all the other new sources of excess nutrients that are being added to the lake. The goose problem has already escalated, with the recent elimination of hunting on the lake, and will only continue to escalate with out the use of open hunting or some other form of population control on the lake. I hope that this alliance doesn’t become just a “tree hugging” feel good organization that is unwilling to make real improvements based on science and conservation. As apposed to the “everyone feel good” emotional groups that have influenced too many of the decisions surrounding the lake in recent years.
The nutrient problem, and resulting algae blooms, has to be a major concern for everyone that lives near or enjoys the benefits of Geist Reservoir.