Crescent Lake Association has engaged Stone Environmental to develop a Watershed Management Plan for Crescent Lake. This is a comprehensive assessment and implementation plan that serves as a baseline to identify the best and most cost-effective projects for improvements to water quality in the lake. The CLA Water Quality Group, CLA Board, and CLEAR Trust have worked hard to bring this project to life. CLA has executed a contract with Stone Environmental, and the CLEAR Trust has agreed to fund 100% of the cost thanks to the generosity of donors from our community.

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Excessive stormwater runoff and sediment entering the lake adds nutrients to the water that can promote harmful algea blooms and unwanted aquatic vegetation growth. We have not had those issues here, but nearby lakes have seen a rise in issues during the past few years. This project is intended to help keep our lake problem-free.

The WMP starts with an assessment of the Crescent Lake watershed. In October 2024, engineers from Stone Environmental assessed the lake shoreline and inlets for erosion, bank instability, vegetation coverage and other factors that can affect water quality. In November, they performed a roads and streams assessment. They walked all of the roads around the lake to document culverts, areas with erosion, and characteristics of the larger intermittent streams that feed into the lake.

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The data collected during the on-site assessments, along with historical water test results, septic permits, and other data, will be used in the coming months to build the watershed inventory, model non-point pollution sources, and eventually develop recommendations and a list of potential actions, along with assessments of the benefits and costs associated with each action.

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The plan calls for Stone Environmental to wrap up their work and produce a final report and recommendations in time for the July 2025 CLA Annual Meeting. The end result is a Watershed Management Plan that incorporates nine elements that the EPA considers essential for a comprehensive WMP (called an “EPA a-i plan”). There may be grant money or low-cost financing available to implement some of the recommendations identified in our WMP.

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Click here for Crescent Lake Watershed Management Plan  Frequently Asked Questions