Press Release - Monday, November 28, 2005
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CARLINVILLE RECEIVES IEPA GRANT TO ADDRESS EROSION AND POLLUTION IN LAKE
CARLINVILLE --- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Doug Scott, on behalf of Governor Rod Blagojevich, today announced a $109,340 grant to the city of Carlinville for a comprehensive watershed study and plan to address erosion and pollution impacting Lake Carlinville.
Director Scott noted that erosion, sedimentation and other contamination entering the lake from rainwater runoff had shrunk its size and resulted in increased drinking water treatment costs.
"This study and plan will provide long-term benefits to residents of the area through improvements to the lake that will also result in lower treatment costs and more recreational benefits," said Director Scott.
The grant is from federal funds received by Illinois EPA under Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act to address "nonpoint source pollution" that does not come out the end of a pipe but is a result of runoff or erosion from both rural and urban land.
Director Scott was joined at Lake Carlinville today by Carlinville Mayor Robert Schwab, State Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville, and State Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield, and other local officials, for the grant announcement.
Through the Section 319 program, Illinois EPA, partnering with local communities and organizations, has funded hundreds of projects around the state that are resulting in cleaner waterways and lakes with substantial reductions in sediments, phosphorus and nitrogen that negatively impact fish and other wildlife as well as human usage.
In Macoupin County, six other 319 grants have been awarded in the past ten years, including two ongoing projects at Otter Lake for sediment control and technical assistance for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program or CREP. Several more projects have been funded for CREP assistance and monitoring studies.
The grant for Lake Carlinville is the first one in Illinois to combine watershed-based planning with an in-lake study that will identify the problems affecting the lake.
Previous evaluations of Lake Carlinville, including one in 1996 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Service determined that sediment, pesticides and nutrients entering the lake were affecting the quality of the drinking water and increasing treatment costs. In addition, the 2004 Illinois Water Quality Report from Illinois EPA identified causes of lake impairments to be manganese, total suspended solids, total phosphorus and excessive algal growth.
The study announced today, with the City of Carlinville providing an additional $85,950 in local funds, will involves in-depth sampling starting next March over a 12- month period. That data will be used to develop a watershed-based plan that will be led by a group of stakeholders from the city, Macoupin County and others in the watershed.
The outcome will be a plan establishing priorities for watershed improvements that will pay off in better water quality of the lake and long-term benefits to this community.
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