GRDA Improves Water Quality

Watching over Grand Lake, the state’s GRDA vice president of Scenic Rivers and Water Quality, Ed Fite (right) has been working for nearly three decades to improve water quality. He spoke to the Grove Rotary Club on Wednesday. (Left to right) Rotarian and former Arkansas River Compact Commissioner Dick Seybolt, Rotary President Carol LaRue, Ed Fite.)

GRDA improving Grand Lake's water quality

GRDA and the state have plans to continue to improve the water quality in both the Grand Lake and Illinois watersheds. According to Ed Fite, vice president of Scenic Rivers and Water Quality for GRDA, "The value of the water in Grand Lake will eventually outstrip the ability to produce electricity."

Fite told the Grove Rotary Club last Wednesday that nutrient pollution is one of the most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems He said it is caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the water. High phosphorus levels in the lake can be caused by city and industrial discharges as well as nonpoint source run-off from yards and commercial properties. The impact includes algal blooms and low dissolved oxygen concentrations in the lake

Fite grew up on the Illinois River and says that by the time we're six or seven-years-old, most of us have been introduced to water through a recreational or some other learning experience. "At that point, we are tied to water for the rest of our lives."

He said that shortly there will be some changes in water quality standards "that may not be popular." However, he noted that the state must plan for the long term.

The Illinois River Watershed and the Grand Lake Watershed have an interdependence. This means that Oklahoma and Arkansas must continue a partnership that treats the Illinois River as a whole basin rather than just consideration of impacts within each of the states. The Illinois River basin affects the Grand Lake Watershed as do decisions made in Kansas for the rivers which flow into Grand Lake. Those issues include regulations affecting the poultry industry, nurseries, and various other agricultural sources. Streambank erosion due to loss of riparian zones and cattle access to streams also impact the water resources

Oklahoma passed its Oklahoma Rivers Act in 1970. In 1986, the State of Oklahoma sued to stop the City of Fayetteville's discharge into the Illinois River. The suit reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992, where the court ruled that the downstream state's water quality laws must be met, but the upstream state was given the liberty to determine how best to accomplish this.

In 2006, the Oklahoma State Attorney General filed a lawsuit against 11 poultry integrator companies for their role in polluting the Illinois River watershed. This lawsuit is currently underway.

Both Arkansas and Oklahoma have worked with the USDA Farm Services Agency to fund the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Riparian Restoration in the watershed.

Fite said that the blue-green algae invasion into Grand Lake is very serious and began in 2007.

"High nutrients along with slow-moving water and sunshine cause blooms. The algae produce toxins that can contaminate drinking water and cause illness in both humans and animals." As the algae die it also can cause a bad odor

"We have been lucky this year. With all the rain, we missed an algae outbreak. The outbreak often looks like blue-green paint in the water along with scum on the surface.

Some of the symptoms of algal toxins are dizziness, weakness, numbness, abdominal pain, and difficulty breathing. Reducing nutrients will limit the algae bloom.

Fite encourages area Grand Lake residents to have their soil tested before putting down “nitrogen and phosphorus on your lawn. Don’t just go to a store and purchase fertilizer, have the soil tested. The nutrients not used by your lawn stay in the soil and can be washed into the lake by rains and rising water.”

Fite also encourages everyone to pick up two pieces of trash that are not their own every day along the shoreline.  He asked, “Do you know how much an impact that could make over time?”