Cumberland Times-News
CUMBERLAND — Barbara Beelar pointed at the abundant blue-green algae visible from her dock situated in the southern cove of Deep Creek Lake.
“This is not good,” said Beelar, director of Friends of Deep Creek Lake, a watchdog group of local property owners that aims to protect, preserve and restore the watershed. “Unfortunately, algae is not being sampled (nor is it) scheduled to be sampled.”
While Beelar’s concerns Tuesday have so far not been addressed, a state Department of Natural Resources water quality study on Deep Creek Lake, the state’s largest and oldest lake, was released in draft format to stakeholders. Friends of Deep Creek Lake is one of the groups with a seat at the table.
John F. Wilson of DNR said the study aimed to produce a baseline of information about the 85-year-old lake that boasts approximately 3,900 surface acres. And the data collected from April 2009 through last month suggests the lake’s water quality is pretty good. Beelar agreed.
“Overall, this gives us really good news about the condition of the lake,” said Beelar, who has had an interest in the lake since 1949. “I am very pleased DNR has done the study. Overall, the lake has aged very well.”
Wilson said the study, which cost about $70,000 and was paid for through dock fees that become part of the lake’s operating budget, shows the water quality as being in between poor and great.
Deep Creek Lake is mesotrophic, with a moderate amount of dissolved nutrients, Wilson said — not eutrophic, which contain very high levels of nutrients and are prone to algae blooms.
“Some things are good and some things are worth watching,” Wilson said. “We really wanted to monitor the lake over time to establish some trends. To be honest, we didn’t really have a baseline to compare it to.”
Wilson said one bit of good news is that the lake’s conditions don’t seem to permit zebra mussels, an invasive species, to take root.
“That’s a concern,” Wilson said. “It’s been spreading throughout the country. It appears, currently, that it is not a suitable habitat. That doesn’t mean to say we’re good forever. We’ve still got to be ever-vigilant in making sure boats that are coming from waters that do have zebra mussels aren’t bringing them to Deep Creek Lake.”
Zebra mussels colonize on docks and clog discharge pipes. And while they can’t — at least for now — live at Deep Creek Lake, other invasive species such as aquatic plants, zooplankton and fish could “survive/thrive in the lake,” according to the report.
Wilson said the study shows the need for continued monitoring. In addition to water samples, this year DNR will map submerged aquatic life — which Beelar called “a major step forward.”
Beeler said she was grateful for the study, the first of a handful of reports about Deep Creek Lake that are expected to be released in the next few months. The state Department of the Environment, acting as an agent of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the U.S. Geological Survey also are conducting tests.
Friends of Deep Creek Lake has obtained a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to cull together information from all available studies into a solid document, Beelar said, in order to gain a true picture of the lake’s health.
While happy with the overall good news, Beelar said the methods used in the 2009 study produced limited results because samples were taken only from the middle of the lake and not near the shoreline.
“What I’m concerned more about is what is referred to as ‘near-shore’ conditions and coves,” Beelar said. “This gives us a real good picture of the middle of the lake but doesn’t give us a picture of the coves.”
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