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WAI ACTION ALERT!!!
News
Congressman hears complaints about low water level at Lake Odessa
By Connie Street of the Muscatine Journal
WAPELLO, Iowa - 2nd District Congressman Jim Leach, R-Iowa City, got an earful
about Lake Odessa Tuesday afternoon when about two dozen residents attended a
community forum at the Louisa County Courthouse.
When area residents asked about the status of the Lake, Leach said he realizes
that the homeowners in the area want it used for recreation while the state
believes its primary use should be for wildlife.
"There is a difference in judgment between naturalists and those supporting
recreational uses," Leach said. "It should be able to be used for both."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has owned the lake since the early 1940s and
contracted with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in the mid 1940s for
its management.
Several people in the audience agreed that the biggest problem is the lake's
water level, which is controlled by the DNR.
"All we asking for is 10 (more) inches of water - enough to get around in a
boat," said local angler Clarence Salladay of Wapello.
He showed photographs of dead fish and of himself standing knee deep in water at
the lake. He said that years ago, the lake was waist deep.
Salladay gave Leach a copy of lease between the Corps and the DNR in effect from
1984 through 2009, which describes the area as public park and recreation area.
Leach said that, unless the contract's been updated, its terms say that the DNR
is obligated to be concerned about the park and recreation aspect of the lake.
Ken Purdy, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, also showed photos of the lake
area. Leach expressed surprise at how low the water is.
"Are you sure that's not because of the drought?" he asked. Purdy said the low
level can be attributed only to the DNR-controlled drawdown. Purdy's photos,
taken Saturday, also showed only two vehicles in the parking lot at one of the
major access areas.
"There should have been hundreds," replied Leach.
The lake is drawn down to about 2 feet deep in the summer to encourage the
growth of aquatic plant life, according to Bill Ohde, wildlife biologist with
the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The lake, which allows boating,
fishing and other water activities, is managed to attract waterfowl such as
ducks and geese. At summer's end, the water level is raised to about 6 feet deep
in the main lake area, Ohde said.
Purdy said the residents don't want to see the water level dip below 4 1/2 feet
deep
Of the 7,000nacre site, about 3,000 acres are managed by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Services for boating and fishing. In the fall, that portion is closed
to the public and serves as a protected duck and goose refuge. The remaining
4,000 acres are managed by the DNR where boating, fishing, swimming and duck
hunting are allowed. However, local users say the water level is not conducive
to those activities.
Purdy said the mission of Lake Odessa management needs to be changed from a
single-purpose usage for migratory birds to a multipurpose, recreational
setting.
Purdy said a petition asking that Lake Odessa be managed as a multipurpose
recreation area has drawn about 500 signatures since it was first circulated
Friday. He said the Louisa County Board of Supervisors supports the petition.
The petition, which originated from cabin owner Bill Orr, states that the lake
"has the potential to be more attractive for recreation and to more effectively
help the local economy." It further requests the lake be managed as a
multipurpose facility that would benefit all interests including "duck hunting,
fishing, boating, boarders, canoers and cabin owners."
Purdy also said another reason to expand the use is because the flyway for the
migratory birds has changed and is farther west of the area, which means there
are fewer waterfowl in the area.
Leach said the state might not want the area if it can't manage it the way the
DNR sees fit. He offered to talk to Corps officials.
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IDNR WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST AFFECTS ASSESSMENT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Just being familiar with the biology of the different
plants, we know what will happen to those over time without drawdowns, and then
we know how those changes would affect wildlife species.
Increased mortality on trees, especially the oaks, hickories and pecans. Would
probably lose most of those mast trees over time. Would also lose the more flood
tolerant species like silver maple and river birch on the lower ground. Oaks in
particular are important to wood ducks, mallards, deer, wild turkeys, squirrels
and a host of nongame birds. Not only are the acorns important but the leaves
break down slower and are an important substrate for invertebrates in the
spring.
See next paragraph about invertebrates.
No growth of annual plants in pond areas. They require mudflats to germinate so
they would be restricted to shorelines. This would include millets, annual
smartweeds, nutsedges, bidens, pigweeds, etc. This in turn means no flooded
vegetation for food and cover in fall or following spring and no substrate for
invertebrates which are the building blocks of the food chain for fish and
important in the diet of shorebirds and waterfowl.
Loss of buttonbush (buckbrush) over time. It needs areas to dry out completely
to establish from seed. It does fine in shallow water once it's established, but
high water thins it out and floods kill the tops, requiring the area to be drawn
down for it to resprout from roots or dried out completely for a couple year
period to re-establish by seed.
This is what needs to be done to restore it to large open water areas that once
had expanses of it. Of course this is a valuable plant for fish and waterfowl.
Hunters and fisherman both know that.
Increased rate of shoreline erosion. The level they want would put the water
right on that bare shoreline all summer long (and it would be bare because
vegetation couldn't get established without the drawdowns) and it would take a
continuous pounding from wave action. Areas would open up rapidly, ponds
becoming bigger and before long, Goose, Round, Nelson, Mallard and Mill would
all be one big pond. It would happen faster than you think. We really need more
severe drawdowns to stabilize that erosion.
I don't think it's exaggerating to say that the whole face of Odessa and it's
attraction and importance to waterfowl and a whole host of other critters would
decline within a matter of a few years and within 10-15, the Odessa we know and
value would be just another shallow open sterile backwater area that might hold
some ducks for a few days and that would be it. It is what it is because of the
mgmt that has been in place for the last 50 years, and granted, there haven't
been as many ducks using it the last few years as there were in the past, but
percentage-wise, it still holds as big a share of the ducks in Iowa that it ever
has.
Bill Ohde IDNR
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Tom Cox, USFWS Port Louisa manager's comments on
Bill's assessment.
I can't add much to Bill's assessment but I will give a couple of extra
bullets.
This time of year the shorebirds are migrating south and depending on mudflats
and sheet water now for their migration this is also preferred teal habitat. The
lack of drawdown would not only negatively impact mast trees it would prevent
expansion. Even trees that won't have standing water on them are affected by the
saturated root zone since ground water levels will be elevated. The higher water
levels will also impact the ability to draw down the managed moist soil units on
the refuge which drain into Odessa. This would negate all the progress we have
made in habitat here the last few years and cause an increase in river bulrush
which has very little food value.
Tom
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WAI ACTION!!!!!
Please Sign the below petition in support of
the current primary management plan of the Lake Odessa complex.
http://www.petitiononline.com/Odessa/petition.html
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