Lake Report - Westlake Lake Management

Monthly Lake Report

LAKE MANAGEMENT REPORT– NOVEMBER 2023

Summary: As we approach the end of 2023, the lake management efforts for Westlake Lake continue to yield positive results. A second application to treat Brittle Naiad weed has been successfully administered, contributing to the preservation of the lakes ecological balance. Furthermore, with the days getting shorter and morning/night temperatures dropping, the Brittle Naiad will naturally die off. The exceptional growth of Charra observed over the summer months has continued to fortify the overall health of the lake, while the maintenance of optimal water levels has upheld the stability of the aquatic ecosystem.

Secondary Treatment for Brittle Naiad: In response to the prevalent growth of the Brittle Naiad issue around Lakeshore and first two inlets of Southshore in the southern area of the lake, a second round of targeted treatment was conducted. This has proved effective in curtailing the growth of this weed. Regular monitoring and assessment will continue to take place over the next few weeks to ensure the Brittle Naiad has laid down for the winter and no further issues arise. Growth of different varieties of aquatic weeds was expected this year as we needed to reestablish the ecology of the lake which included, giving “Charra” or “Muskgrass” a chance to grow on the lake floor, which it did, in a big way! Now that we have established a solid base of Charra grass we will be able to treat the lake next spring with an aquatic herbicide to prevent any nuisance weeds from popping up through the entirety of the year and insuring the Charra remains strong and growing as this herbicide will not have an adverse effect on Charra growth.

Well #4: I am happy to announce that Well #4 is now operational. Although the wells output is only 35 gallons per minute, that equates to 2,100 gallons per hour or 50,400 gallons in a 24-hour (one day) period. If we were to run this well July through October, 24 hours a day (typical summer) sometimes even longer, well #4 would provide over 6 million gallons of water to the lake during this time.

Dam Water Flow: Throughout October we continued to see a small, consistent flow of water over the dam and have not yet had to activate Wells 1 and 2. We switched Westlake Golf Course from reclaimed water to pumping lake water on October 1^st and have not seen much of a change in the lake level since then, which is good news. I would expect if we do not see any rain within the first half of November that the lake level could drop an inch or so, in which case we may have to activate the wells depending on timing of potential rain events.

Transition to PMP Management:

We continue to be very busy with the transition to PMP Management.

Upcoming plans and continuation of projects from October into November: