By Sarah Opdahl

At the Wednesday, August 14, Candlewood Lake Authority (CLA) meeting, Director of Education and Ecology Mr. Neil Stalter said, “water quality is going great this year.” There was some discussion about the reason for this, which could be related to the water being kept at a slightly lower level than in previous years. In addition, zebra mussels have not taken as full of a hold as was feared.

CLA Executive Director Mr. Mark Howarth gave an update on public safety, saying, “everything has gone well” with staffing, and the shifts have gone out as planned, though they have responded to some tough incidents. With a busy summer at hand, they have dealt with varied issues, “from injuries to vessels taking on water” to an engine fire on a boat. He went on to say, “We did actually do a social media post to recognize those additional efforts.”

The Marine patrol is working with Stalter to create safety videos for boaters. Stalter explained, several other videos are in production to promote  public awareness. He said a recently released video on the lake’s nutrient budget has received positive response. “I really think it looks professional, and we really enjoy working with the company who is doing those,” Stalter remarked.

The boat count for the season to date was a topic of interest for CLA members. Operations and Maintenance Manager Mr. Michael Gasparino said, “we are just slightly higher this year than the previous years” with 6,650 boats, which breaks down to 156 cabin-style boats, 3,411 non-cabin motor boats, 2,369 unregistered boats (i.e. kayaks and canoes), and 714 jet skis, which saw a large bump.

Gasparino said of the patrol boats, “we are keeping up with the maintenance on them, they are doing great.” He is pleased with a new set up for the handheld radios, “I have secured a place on the boat where they are mounted with a charger, so they are always on the boat, and when the boat is running, they are charging, so the handheld radios are always there for them in a compartment and ready to go.” In the past, the officers needed to carry them off and on the boat. They have also devised a safe way to store Narcan on the boats, without fear of it overheating.  In other boat news, the Ark, which had experienced major issues earlier in the year, is back up and running with a new engine. The large vessel is used heavily in buoy work, as well as deployment of the exclosures that are being used to further investigate the steep loss of plant life in Candlewood Lake. It was noted that Stalter will give  a talk on the lack of plant life at the national conference of the North American Lake Management Society in November.

In the Treasurer’s Report, Mr. Will Meikle said he was happy to report, “we finished the year at $3,600 surplus. So, basically right on budget, in a terrific finishing position.” He went on to say that work is ongoing to prepare documents for the auditor who is “ready to go,” which will get the audit on track earlier than is typical. With the financial cycle marching ahead, Meikle said, “we are getting ready to kick off the budget cycle, believe it or not…expect that we are going to look for [committee/department] budgets back to me by the middle of October.”

CLA members approved a budget transfer of $100,000 from remaining funds in operations expenses to future capital needs to close out the year. In addition, they authorized the purchase of an extra set of stainless steel propellers for the silver ships. Meikle noted, “we have now two silver ships operational and a third one coming our way, and we think it is prudent to have another set of propellers in our inventory, should anything happen to them, so that we would be up and running momentarily.”

There was a lengthy presentation on salt pollution in the lake by Mr. Liam Callahan, who is a University of South Carolina student interning with the CLA this summer. Callahan conducted an independent research project throughout the summer on the causes of salt pollution in the lake, which centered on road salting on the public roads and the sixty-three private communities surrounding Candlewood Lake. He stressed that there are many variables at play, including the myriad of companies and individuals who are charged with deploying salt, the storage of salt, the choice to cut salt with sand or not, and the extreme steepness of the roads. Salt pollution has a large effect on the ecosystem in the lake, “chloride is toxic to fish, aquatic bugs, amphibians, and plants, and chloride reduces fish and insect community structure, diversity, and productivity.” He is hopeful that further public education may help the matter and pointed out that there are some storage facilities that could be shored up to help with runoff. Measures with road salting could be made more effective with smart salting techniques, in addition to tracking and monitoring, he suggested.

The next Candlewood Lake Authority meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 11, 7:00 p.m.