Deep Creek program in search of volunteers

From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — Friends of Deep Creek Lake needs volunteers for its Off Your Dock program, which begins Saturday.

Lake users with access to a dock are asked to sample turbidity, which is the suspended sediment in the water from stream runoff and shoreline erosion. The group seeks volunteers from a couple of docks in each cove and others areas around the lake.

The group is concerned with the lack of research being done in the zone from the shoreline to 100 feet beyond.

Equipment and training will be provided for samples to be taken twice a week. Participants who have to be away can have the samples taken for them during that time period.

To volunteer, e-mail contact@friendsofdcl.org; call (301) 873-1519; or write to 779 Chadderton School Road, Oakland MD 21550.

Donations are needed to purchase the equipment, with kits costing from $45 to $115 depending on their contents.

Friends of Deep Creek Lake is also planning a Forum on the State of the Lake to be held Aug. 7. The Maryland Department of the Environment is conducting a study on phosphorous in the lake watershed. High levels of phosphorous release nutrients that result in growth of submerged vegetation and algal blooms, contributing to the decline of water quality.

The forum will include a presentation on the study. The community forum is underwritten in part by funds from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and is the focal point of the Friends’ work with the University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Studies. A report card on the lake will be forthcoming in the fall.

House meetings to learn of concerns of property owners are scheduled in the Hickory Lane, Hickory Ridge and Turkey Neck Loop areas. Anyone interested in hosting such a meeting in other areas of the lake is asked to contact Friends of Deep Creek Lake.


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