Water Quality
The LCIA Environmental Committee works to keep our membership aware of the status, issues and concerns associated with the Les Cheneaux Islands recreational water quality as well as the diversity and resilience of our coastal wetland environment.
Together with the Les Cheneaux Watershed Council, LCIA regularly analyzes and reports on the quality of our water and the status of invasive species.
The recreational quality of our waters remained highly desirable during 2023 based upon water chemistry analysis by Univ Michigan BioStation Lab at Douglas Lake (UMBS).
May 2024 Update
It appears that our lake level will be about the same as last year, which is good. It also means that the channels will warm more quickly, and that sunlight will penetrate more deeply than in recent years when the waters were deeper. Translated: more weed growth of both native and non-native species. So, expect more Eurasian watermilfoil growth. None of us want to relive the dense milfoil of the 2010-2012 years. As a preventative, please be vigilant about grooming your riparian waterfront area by removing non-native weeds, especially milfoil, along your beach, docks, and boathouses. Neighboring properties can effectively decrease the severity of excessive weed growth.
The UMBS lab is no longer accepting contract lab work which means we need to locate another lab to perform the same procedures with the same precision as has been provided by UMBS. Lake Superior State University (LSSU) has such a facility. In 2023 duplicate water samples from LCI were analyzed by both UMBS and by LSSU. Resulting data were highly comparable, indicating that LCWC/LCIA could contract with LSSU to analyze water samples and achieve the same high quality and precision results that have been provided by the UMBS lab. We are, therefore, comfortable that LCI water samples can be analyzed to the same high standards provided by UMBS in the past
Finally, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the Watershed Council having their 501(c)3 status. Help them celebrate during their Annual General Meeting on July 18th at the Community Center.
