Polishing a gem: Geode State Park

Lake Geode project making strides to create pristine waters to be proud of.

By NICHOLAS BERGIN

Just as his father and grandfather before him, Herb Grinstead farms ground in rural Danville within the Lake Geode watershed. At 62, Grinstead believes he is more than just a farmer, he is the guardian and caretaker of his small corner of earth.

"It's important to be a good steward of the land," said Grinstead, whose family has a long history of supporting area land and water conservation efforts. "My granddad had some of the first terraces in the Geode watershed."

That's why he and many other area farmers are working with Lake Geode Watershed Project Coordinator Caleb Waters on a $1.2 million, five-year plan to implement a variety of conservation practices within Geode State Park and the surrounding watershed, including planting grass buffer strips along waterways, creating terraces, implementing conservation tillage and contour cultivation.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has monitored Lake Geode, which frequently fails to meet national quality standards. Tests have shown high levels of E. coli bacteria, indicating the presence of animal and humane waste. Swimming advisories routinely are posted at the beach because of the E. coli levels.

Excessive phosphorous from fertilizers also reach the lake, which causes algae to grow rapidly, leading to elevated pH levels that are harmful to aquatic life.

The test results have led to the lake being placed on the state's list of impaired waters.

It wasn't until 2000 that DNR began monitoring state beaches as part of its Ambient Water Monitoring Program.

"(Water quality) was perceived as a new problem. But it (high bacteria and phosphorus) has probably been in the lake the whole time. I'm thinking water quality has probably improved over the years because farming practices have improved. So I would think water quality in the lake is better than it has been in past decades. Of course there is no way to really prove that," park manager Ulf Konig said during a recent interview.

The watershed

The ultimate goal of the Lake Geode Watershed Project is simple enough: Fix the water quality within the park to provide a beautiful pristine lake for swimming, boating, fishing, hiking and viewing wildlife.

"Basically people want a safe place to swim and a good place to fish while they're camping and hiking," said Drew DeLang of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. DeLang is Waters' day-to-day manager. Both men work out of the NRCS office in Burlington.

The actual details of making that happen are a little more complex.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources wrote the Water Quality Improvement Plan for the Geode watershed, which serves as the conservation bible for those working to improve the lake. The plan is often referred to as a TMDL, which stands for Total Maximum Daily Load for pH and indicator bacteria.

"When we did that (watershed) assessment, we walked up every gully, every ditch, every creek in the watershed. When we did that we collected data with a GPS unit. This was done in the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008. The data we collected, it told us where the worst areas are for erosion," DeLang said. "We're going back now and focusing on those high gully erosion areas."

If the TMDL is the conservation bible for the watershed, then Waters is the head preacher.

Waters, who grew up on a farm southwest of New London, began work March 1 and is employed by the Des Moines and Henry counties' soil and water conservation districts. It's his job to coordinate efforts for all the partners involved in the project, including landowners, residents, the soil and water conservation districts, NRCS, DNR, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Henry and Des Moines county conservation boards and secondary roads departments and the Iowa Soybean Association and Geode Resource Conservation & Development.

Gem of southeast Iowa

"It's the gem of southeast Iowa," DeLang said of Geode. "It's a great park. We have a tendency to go to Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin (for recreation), and we have a pretty good secret right out here. Go out and take a look. There are eight miles of trail, abundant wildlife. It's a neat place, and it's yours, it's ours, the taxpayers."

Without conservation practices in the watershed, the lake's lifespan would be reduced greatly, DeLang added.

"Even with the practices there is still siltation happening out there," he said.

Built in 1950s, Lake Geode originally included 187 acres up to 56 feet deep. But gradual sedimentation over the years has eaten away at the lake. It now measures 174 acres, and its deepest part is 44 feet deep, according to DNR figures.

E. coli

The presence of E. coli, and the percentage each source contributes to the lake, varies. During heavy rains, manure application runoff is responsible. During dry periods, cattle in streams and geese at the beach receive the lion's share of the blame, according to the TMDL study.

Most of the water quality violations for Lake Geode happen during periods of wet weather when excess rainfall runs off land and into ditches and streams, which eventually empty into the lake. The runoff carries feces that has built up on the land over time.

High E. coli levels also have occurred during dry to normal periods, during which time there is less water to dilute fecal material being deposited in the lake by livestock, wildlife and septic systems.

Reducing runoff

Officials are careful not to point fingers at any one source. There are multiple factors contributing to Geode's maladies, including field runoff, erosion from within the park, livestock, a healthy population of Canada geese and other wildlife, Waters said.

The Geode watershed, land that drains into the lake, spans 10,327 acres, mostly in Des Moines County. That's a 59-to-1 watershed to lake ratio. About 170 land owners control more than 80 percent of the watershed, which extends north and east from the lake.

The land within the watershed consists of 63 percent row crops, 1.9 percent grazed lands, 8.4 percent farmsteads, roads and residences, 24.8 percent conservation areas and 1.7 percent water.

In-field assessments show an estimated sediment runoff load of about 9,200 tons a year and phosphorus runoff of about 14,235 pounds per year, some of which inevitably end up muddying the waters of Lake Geode. One of the goals of the watershed project is to reduce phosphorus and sedimentation runoff deposited in the lake to 45.8 percent.

Getting to that point means installing a variety of conservation practices on targeted private land that will reduce annual sediment delivery by about 1,624 tons and phosphorus by 2,511 pounds. To accomplish that reduction, Waters plans to work with landowners to construct this year at least an acre of grass waterway, which officials already have done. They also intend to build 4,000 feet of terraces, 14 water and sediment control basins and at least one pond.

Within the park itself, the plan is to install water and sediment control basins, as well as grade control structures in gullies to reduce the amount of annual sedimentation by 2,596 tons and phosphorus by 4,011 pounds. To accomplish this, officials want to install at least eight grade stabilization structures, or ponds, within the park this year.

"A big part of this project is we're going to be working on DNR ground to control gully erosion, which we haven't really looked at in the past," DeLang said.

Planting grass along waterways helps prevent erosion in creek beds, while the installation of ponds, terraces and dry dams holds runoff briefly, allowing sediment to settle before the water continues on its way through the watershed.

The watershed project is funded through a variety of local, state and federal programs and recently was awarded $470,000 through the DNR.

Funds are available to provide up to 75 percent cost share to install conservation practices within the watershed.

Rains this spring have damaged many of the terraces and other grade stabilization structures. Officials will have to wait until after crops are out of the fields this fall to fully assess and begin to repair damages. Waters is looking for additional funds to fix damaged structures.

"There has been a significant amount of erosion throughout the watershed, but because of the conservation practices already installed the impacts were reduced. But like everything, there is always room for improvement," Waters said.

Amenity improvements

Geode has seen several amenity improvements over the past several years.

A new beach playground area was built at a cost of $130,000. More sidewalks and another playground structure are planned this fall.

A new shelter house with enclosed bathrooms and kitchen recently was constructed for $350,000 provided by the Iowa Department of Economic Development plus $75,000 in funding from private donations, in-kind labor, the Des Moines and Henry counties board of supervisors, as well as several local communities. The sewage system for the shelter will be completed later this summer.

In 2004, three silt ponds were excavated and restored and a beach boat ramp paved at a cost of $30,000.

The park road system, including the beach parking lot underwent a $1.2 million resurfacing in 2007.

Officials purchased $5,000 worth of new sand in 2009 for the beach and playground.

Also, officials have purchased equipment for picking up goose droppings from the beach.

A great deal of volunteer time and labor went into the beach improvements, as well as contributions from area communities, including New London, Danville, Burlington, West Burlington, Middletown, Mediapolis and Mount Pleasant, Konig said.