Why are the Lakes Green?

Every year at this time, many members ask why are the lakes green?  Mike Ogorek wrote up a report for me for the blog.

This is a natural fall time happening on lakes with a good weed population.  As temperatures drop at night, the top water of the lake cools.  Since cold water is heavier than warm water, at some point the heavier cold water falls to the bottom.  This is what happens when a "Lake Turns Over".  The shock of the cold water kills a lot of the weeds which turns the water green.  The water should clear up within the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Mike also gave me some information on the weeds in our pond.  He spoke with PHD from Central Michigan University about our ponds several years ago.  He reported that we have mostly Pond Weed.  We have the type that has a short like cycle(3-6 weeks).  He recommended that we leave it as is because the habitat is good for fishing.  The cloudy green in the Spring is a type of algae and not dying weeds.  It aids in controlling weed growth.  The weed bed we have is great for fish spawning.

Work continues on the natural pipeline inspection.  Monday, they drained the line of any gas.  Wednesday, they plan on cutting into the pipe and use a scope to check the line all the way back to Torrence.  If all is OK, they will back fill and dig up the other pipe that runs parallel.

The tee shot from #14 men's may change next year.  This group of cotton woods died this summer.  The crew will cut them down in early November on a frost morning.  We've been loosing a couple of cotton woods in the ditch line each year.