President’s Report:: Our intended speaker for the meeting, Mark June-Wells, was in MA and unable to make it to this meeting. June-Wells, PhD. is an independent lake consultant and NALMS Certified. We are considering hiring him solely for his expertise; he would not be selling or performing lake treatments. The President’s understanding is that he would assess the condition of the lake and present solutions for the future. We will ask him to attend a special meeting in one or two weeks on either a Thursday or a Monday evening. It was noted that the owner at 90 Mamanasco Road has applied for a noise variance for 10/24/15. Milo Dalbey, former longtime board member, passed away August 30, 2015. He will be greatly missed.
Committee Reports:
Fundraising: The second fundraising letter will go out tomorrow to those residents in the watershed who have not already made a contribution to MLIF this year..
Stormwater Drainage Project (SDP): The town received two bids for the Third Lane Stream restoration project. The bid for the full project was awarded to True Blue Environmental. The project began the week of August 31. We will oversee the work. An adjacent property owner to the stream and work area is also keeping an eye on the work.
Lake Management: The President reported on the state of the lake. It was noted that Mamanasco Lake is experiencing a serious blue-green algae bloom containing cyanobacteria which can be harmful to pets and humans. Water tests for blue-green algae have shown levels of cyanobacteria ranging from 60,000 to 80,000 cells/mL depending on the species present. The World Health Organization (WHO) advisory level for relative probability of acute health effects at the moderate level is 10-20 (ug/l) of Microcystin and total cyanobacteria of 20,000-100,000 cells/mL or 70,000 of any type. The CT state guideline for cyanobacteria is over 100,000 cells/ml. Two new water samples were taken on August 19. The report from Northeast Labs, Inc. showed total cyanobacteria levels in these samples of 95,000 cells/ml and 150,000 cells/ml. Representatives from MLIF met with the Ridgefield First Selectman and the Town Director of Public Health on 8/26 to discuss the blue-green algae issue and understand who is responsible for lake health warnings or lake closure. A plan was agreed upon to put warning signs at the beach club, State boat launch and Richardson Park. The signs will come down when we have two test results, one week apart, that show cyanobacteria results of less than 100,000. It was decided to try test strip kits that were used in Putnam Lake, NY that measure the toxicity of the microcystis bacteria. Three tests were done with the strips and the results have oddly all been the same, questioning the reliability of these test strip kits. A Secchi disk test done in one place on the lake showed water clarity of about 3 inches.
Drawdown and Spillway: The spillway tarp will be pulled down a bit to minimally lower the water level. We will ask the consultant at the next meeting if a drawdown of two feet is advisable this fall.
Newsletter: We will send out a newsletter this fall.
Grants: It was noted that Connecticut has $150,000 available this year for grants related to invasive species on lakes.
