Walton Lake’s problems detailed at community meeting

FAIRFIELD – Fairfield’s Resilient Action Committee hosted an event on Walton Lake Monday night, June 30, at the Walton Club.

The event featured guest speakers Chad Doland and Tyler Stubbs, both fisheries biologists with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Amy Bouska from the USDA-IDALS Urban Water Quality Program. The speakers talked about the ecological condition of Walton Lake, which has become a focus of recent Fairfield City Council meetings, where some residents have objected to the city’s plan to partially drain the lake to replace a golf cart bridge over it.

Anne Walton, the facilitator of Monday’s event, said the talks that night would just focus on the condition of the lake and not touch on the controversy surrounding the bridge. Walton invited those present to share their personal experiences with the lake. Vesna Glavina remarked that she was surprised how murky the lake’s water is, and wondered if it was especially dirty, or if all Iowa water bodies were like that. Tom Terrien remarked that the lake is charming, that he enjoys living near it, and that there are few mosquitoes. Don Hoelting said he’s noticed “mushy spots” in the lake where the shoreline is undercut.

Dolan, who works at Lake Darling State Park just outside Brighton, gave a detailed overview of Walton Lake’s history and health. The lake was made in 1924, making it 101 years old, which he referred to as “pretty old.” He noted that Lake Darling was created in 1950, and has already been renovated. Later in his talk, he seemed to indicate Walton Lake would benefit from a renovation, too, but it would take about 15 years.

Walton Lake is 70 acres, and its watershed covers 1,362 acres, for a 19.5 to 1 watershed to lake size ratio. He said that’s good since the DNR recommends a 20 to 1 ratio. Most of the runoff the lake receives comes mostly from the north and northwest, meaning that area is responsible for carrying bacteria, sediment, herbicides, pesticides and runoff from livestock. However, he added that not all runoff is ag-related, since some comes from household fertilizers, construction and the golf course. Dolan spoke about the importance of encouraging homeowners to use phosphorous-free fertilizer.

Dolan showed the crowd aerial maps of the lake depicting how sediment has filled in over the decades to make some of the lake’s fingers shallow and even converting them to dry land. The murkiness of the water is not just unsightly but is bad for fish since they’re sight-feeders, and can’t eat if they can’t see their food.

Bluegill rarely grow over 5 inches long in Walton Lake, and Dolan said this is a sign they are not getting enough to eat.

“They’re starving a little bit,” he said. “They can’t find the plankton they need.”

  Buy Photo

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

  Buy Photo