WSC - Water Quality

The water resources of Dickinson County, Iowa and Jackson County, Minnesota provide an important source of recreation, drinking water, and aesthetic enjoyment for 17,000 residents and one million visitors each year. Good water quality is vital to the region’s economy and enhances the quality of life for those who visit or reside in the area.

Watershed – Rainfall along with underwater springs feed the watershed of the Iowa Great Lakes. The Big and Little Spirit Lake watershed includes a large area in Jackson County along with areas in Iowa located East and West of Little and Big Spirit Lake. When Spirit Lake reaches its crest level, excess water from Spirit Lake moves down a spillway into East Okoboji. This spillway is located at the South end of Spirit Lake in the Town of Orleans.

Lake East Okoboji, West Okoboji, Upper Gar, Lower Gar, and Lake Minnewashta are at the same level. The level of these five lakes is controlled by the level of water at the dam at the southern end of Lower Gar Lake near Milford. Water flowing over the dam begins Milford Creek that joins the Little Sioux River South of Milford. The Little Sioux River eventually empties into the Missouri River.

The map below shows the four major watersheds of the Iowa Great Lakes. Lakes are shown in dark blue.

The primary threats to the region’s water quality are from agricultural nutrients, soil erosion, human and livestock waste, storm water contaminants, urban development and loss of natural wetlands. Other threats include potential spills of hazardous materials and invasion of aquatic nuisance species.

What is Low Impact Development?

Low Impact Development (LID) is an innovative storm water management approach with a basic principle that is modeled after nature: manage rainfall at the source using uniformly distributed decentralized micro-scale controls. LID's goal is to mimic a site's predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source.

Instead of managing storm water in large, costly end-of-pipe facilities located at the bottom of drainage areas; LID addresses storm water through small, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level. Many landscape features like parking lots, streets, medians, sidewalks rooftops, and open spaces can be used to slow the flow of water and minimize the amount of water that flows directly into a lake.

For more information on Low Impact Development check this website LID Website

Dickinson County Clean Water Alliance – Founded in the late 1980’s, the mission of the Dickinson County Clean Water Alliance is to coordinate and communicate for the improvement and protection of the water resources affecting Dickinson County. The CWA is a coalition of over 60 government agencies and non-profit organizations that work together to coordinate water quality planning and protection. For more information on water quality see the Clean Water Alliance website www.cleanwateralliance.net

John Wills is the Dickinson Clean Water Alliance Coordinator, Dickinson County Soil & Water Conservation District, 2412 17th Street, Spirit Lake 51360 - telephone 712/ 336-3782 ext. 3 Email: john.wills@ia.nacdnet.net

Dickinson County Water Quality Commission – Is a Dickinson County inter-agency commission including cities and the county set up under a 28E agreement to provide funding for water quality improvement projects. Contact is made through the Clean Water Alliance.

Urban Conservationist - Steve Anderson is the Urban Conservationist for NW Iowa and is based in Dickinson County. He is to assist with construction site erosion and storm water management using Low Impact Development. Steve Anderson's position is funded by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship through the Dickinson County Soil and Water Conservation District. His office is at the Dickinson County Soil & Water Conservation District, 2412 17th Street, Spirit Lake 51360 - telephone 712/ 336-3782 Email: steven.r.anderson@ia.nacdnet.net

CLAMP Lake Monitoring – The goal of the Cooperative Lakes Area Monitoring Project is to address the need for a long-term, unified approach to monitoring Dickinson County lakes. CLAMP depends upon volunteers to donate their time and energy. Volunteers attend a two-hour training session at the beginning of the summer and commit to sampling 2 - 3 times per summer. For more information about CLAMP or to volunteer contact Jane Shuttleworth at 337-3669 ext 7 or email - lakesidejane@yahoo.com

CLAMP DATA

CLAMP Summaries: 1999 - 2006: CLICK HERE or in print form at Lakeside Lab - Waitt Lab

Data from 1999-2003: CLICK HERE

Data from 2005-2006: CLICK HERE

CLAMP DATA INTERPRETATION WORKSHOPS How are lakes monitored? What does the data mean? How is it used? Workshops and presentations are available. Contact Jane Shuttleworth, CLAMP Coordinator, at 337-3669 ext 7 or email lakesidejane@yahoo.com

CLAMP is sponsored and coordinated by the Friends of Lakeside Laboratory in partnership with Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Iowa State University Limnology Lab. CLAMP has received financial support from the Dickinson County Water Quality Commission, the Okoboji Protective Association, the Spirit Lake Protective Association, and the East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation.

Dickinson County Conservation Board – Is a Dickinson County agency responsible for county parks and bike trails. Their office is at Horseshoe Bend Park Southwest of Milford - 1924 240th Street - telephone 338-4786

Barbara Tagami is the Dickinson County Naturalist - telephone 338-4238

Iowa Lakes Water Quality

The DNR has a website with lake water quality information provided by the Limnology Laboratory at Iowa State University.

Check this website Iowa Lake Info System

Water Quality Awards Given - Sioux City Journal Article March 11, 2007 Click Here