Lake Stevens Alum Treatments

[Steelheadin360]

Probably doesn't effect many of you but this is a letter I sent to the City of Lake Stevens regarding the Alum treatments on the Lake. Sometimes it doesn't take much to be heard. But we should all be doing our part to try to save our fisheries.

Hello,

I am writing all of you today in hopes that my opinion will be heard, and maybe some changes will be made.

To start off, my name is Zack McGlothern. I was born and raised a few miles away in Snohomish. I have been fishing Lake Stevens since I was still in diapers. I have seen the Lake peak and decline many times during this period. I work as a fishing guide and one of my favorite times of the year is the Lake Stevens Kokanee season. I get to show people what the lake can offer and introduce new people to the sport. I also have three children which enjoy this time of the year as much as I do.

You may or may not know that the Lake Stevens Kokanee fishery is very highly talked about throughout the fishing community. It is one of the few Lakes in the State that offer a Kokanee fishery and it is a great one! Anglers drive from all over Puget Sound to get the chance at the generous limits on the lake. This brings in revenue that would normally not be brought into the city. It may not seem like much but last year was the busiest I have ever seen it. I was counting an average of 15 boats on week days, and sometimes 50 or more during the weekends. That's a huge boost to place like Greg's Custom rods, Norm's Market, and the other downtown business. It also generates some "off season" revenue for the city boat ramp. There is also the Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby every year. I have seen it grow in leaps and bounds in its 5 years span. It attracts a huge number of people to town and shows even more people the great fishing Lake Stevens has to offer.

But this is all in danger.

First a little lesson about our tasty scaled friend, the Kokanee Salmon. Kokanee are landlocked Sockeye Salmon. They share the same genetics as their highly prized big cousins, but do not complete the seaward journey that Sockeye do. The result is a "stunted" growth (12-18" at maturity) and a great fishing opportunity. Lake Stevens receives large plants of Kokanee fry in the spring and fall from WDFW, which contributes to almost all of the Lakes population. There is little to no natural reproduction in the lake. These are fish we have paid for through licensing fees and such. Kokanee are primarily filter feeders. Feeding on the plankton and zoo plankton the inhabit the lake. During the spring when the water warms the plankton become more abundant and the Kokanee go into feeding mode, putting on weight and growing at an astounding rate. They feed throughout the Spring until the Lake surface becomes to warm for them. They then drop deeper into the lake but still provide a fishing opportunity. Then in the fall they fully mature and ready for spawning, after which the perish and the cycle begins again.

Now with my above statement about this being in danger. The Council and the Mayor may not care about the little fishermen, but I do. As do many others, including the business we help support during the "slow season" on the lake. I am one of those business's. Last year the fishing really picked up in April, the fish were healthy and fishing was good! We were catching our 10 fish per person limits in only a few hours, even with 6 people on the boat. Thats 60 Kokanee, great fishing! It lasted until May. As I was launching my boat on more I noticed the ALum application vessel and thought "no way, already?" And sure enough Alum was applied that day while I was fishing. I went out two days later and caught no fish. I fished the day before the derby and caught one fish. I fished during the derby for over 14 hours and caught 9 Kokanee. Other shared the same success. Over the Summer I tried fishing Lake Stevens a few more times. Catching small skinny Kokanee with empty bellies. The fish were literally starving to death.

Now, the Alum treatment literally takes everything on the top of the Lake, Plankton included, and cause it to clump up and sink to the bottom. On contact with water, alum forms a fluffy aluminum hydroxide precipitate called floc. Aluminum hydroxide (the principle ingredient in common antacids such as Maalox) binds with phosphorus to form an aluminum phosphate compound. This compound is insoluble in water under most conditions so the phosphorus in it can no longer be used as food by algae organisms. As the floc slowly settles, some phosphorus is removed from the water. The floc also tends to collect suspended particles, such as algae and plankton, in the water and carry them down to the bottom, leaving the lake noticeably clearer. On the bottom of the lake the floc forms a layer that acts as a phosphorus barrier by combining with phosphorus as it is released from the sediments. The purpose of the Alum is to control the phosphorus in the Lake.Which then in turn controls toxic algae. Which I am 100% in favor of doing. But, what this treatment is doing is literally taking all the food for our Kokanee out of the water. I have heard over the last two years "It wont effect the fish" or "The fish will be fine" and my favorite "The fish wont starve. I have seen it first hand, those statements are false. These fish are in full feed mode when their food source is totally removed from the lake.

Treating a Lake with Alum is what many Biologists call "taking the easy way out" It forms a barrier on the bottom, but as more phosphorus enters the Lake the cycle begins again. Think of it like a layer cake. I am no biologist but I have done an extensive amount of research on phosphorus over loading and the effects Alum treatments can have on Fish populations. I will also have a Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife Biologist working with me on the Lake this to see how the Alum applications effect fish growth and natural feed levels. We will compile a presentation to present to WDFW on the effects of Alum treatment on the lake.

One solution to this is a fairly easy one. As I described above Kokanee only feed until the surface water becomes to warm for them to easy access their main food source, plankton. This is around 60 degrees. Holding off on the Alum treatments even two or three weeks would allow the Kokanee to pack on enough fat to survive their food source being totally wiped out. Allowing the Kokanee to naturally descend deeper in the water column and acclimate to the reduction of food. Another great option would be to look at the other available options to control the amount of phosphorus in the lake over the long term. Such as banning use of fertilizers around the lake.

Long story short, the Alum treatments are killing the Lake Stevens Kokanee. Poor fishing and fish quality will no longer attract anglers to the area. Causing a loss of revenue. These are fish we have paid for. Our hard earned money has gone towards making this lake the great fishery that it is. We stimulate the local economy. And most of all we showcase what Lake Stevens has to offer to Anglers of the Pacific Northwest.

As a Fisherman, a Guide, and a father, I strongly urge you to reconsider the Alum treatments on Lake Stevens in hopes of saving this great fishery.

Thank you for your time.

[strider43]

is this a treatment for milfoil or other invasive aquatic "seeweed"?

[Steelheadin360]

Its a treatment that is suppose to reduce the amount of phosphorus in the lake. High levels of Phosphorus is responsible for the outbreak of blue/green algae on Lake Stevens. So they try to use the Alum to band aid it for now until they figure out it doesnt work and they need to look at the bigger picture.

[Idstud]

I posted about this last year and I think I posted my response from the company that applies this stuff in the lake. The city counsel feels its cheaper to put chemical in the lake than it is to fix/replace the aerator. From what I have found you cant get parts for it any more.

[Idstud]

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/forum/vi ... ke+stevens" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here is the thread I started.

[ncwflounderer]

interesting how it does seem to be having an effect on the food supply for the Kokanee. The blue-green algae seems to be becoming a problem at more and more lakes. I wonder what the long term cost of alum application is compared to the cost of a new aerator compounded over many useful years.

[Steelheadin360]

Ive been doing a ton of research on this over the last two years. Here are a few things I have found

*About 2/3 of the Phos in Lake Stevens is from runoff (yards, septic systems, washing cars in the driveway)
*The lake naturally produces Phos but in over healthy amounts
*decaying plants cause most of this
*Phos is essential for algae growth
*Green Algae is a must have for plankton
*Kokanee eat plankton
*Alum wipes out Phos, Algae and Plankton

What the Kokanee are saying--"Hey man, wheres the food!?"

The aerator is made to take care of the naturally occurring Phos that is produced deep in the lake where oxygen is low. It does nothing to prevent Phos in the upper water columns were the blue/green algae occur. Especially along shallow shoreline were the water is warm enough. The spray the alum in the middle of the lake so it wipes out everything in the deep parts but does nothing to prevent Phos influx and production along the shorelines.

The people the are heading this operation need too remove their heads from their rear ends and realize they arent doing anything to fix this over the long term. Treating the invasive Milfoil and treating the shorelines would be a better solution. As would looking at the Phos that is being introduced to the lake by outside sources. But hey, the lake looks pretty and people wanna swim in it, so we are good.

All they are doing is messing with mother nature because they dont wanna tell people that live around the lake "Hey, you cant use that because its killing the lake"

[sickbayer]

Great post, do us fisher man get the short straw everytime! And that is just from a selfish stand point nevermind the poor fish who have the crap knocked out of them. I didn't see a email address or person to send a letter to ill gladly write a letter, email or call. I fished it last year and enjoyed it.

[Bodofish]

I talked with a Bio guy on the beach a couple years ago. His take was they needed to fix the aerator and put in a few more. Stop all fertilizing on the lake shore. and keep up with the Alum or the lake will die at an accelerated rate. Dead Lake = zero fish. It's a Band-Aid deal all the way around. Need to stop the source and go from there.

[juggalo]

I grew up in lk Stevens,lived there from 1987-2010.the town politicians don't care about fish or fishermen.after almost 20years of fishing it and launching downtown for free 3 minutes (with the use of my wdfw parking permit)from my home I started being told I had to drive to the other side of the lake and pay a fee when the local rowing clubs would take over the downtown launch.then once on the water I would at times be chased down and literally overtaken by 50mph ski boats to be told to watch out for rowers while I'm in a 14ft aluminum doing 15mph,and this happening at 8 am in the morning while some jacka** is yelling stroke over a bullhorn .sorry to go on a rant but I loved my home town and I loved fishing that lake ,I loved going to the creeks that those incredible kokanee swim up to try and spawn and show my kids.The multimillionaires who live on the lake don't care how the lake gets cleared up as long as come water sports season it's clear and they're the ones paying the ridiculous property taxes which in turn pay the salary of the mayor and the city council.its really sad but when I moved there in 87 from southern Calif it was a magical place where I spent my summers catching crawdads in Catherine creek and catching feisty trout from the different parks year round.

[sickbayer]

Juggalo understandable rant, unfortunately that applies to most of the lakes with housing on.

[Steelheadin360]

That rant is great! "We the people" need to be the ones standing up for this!

[Steelheadin360]

Got an email back from one of the council members

squigley@lakestevenswa.gov


hi Zack,
Thanks for your email. I really appreciate it. I am asking staff to report back to council addressing your concerns and hope that they are able to have this discussion when we next meet, which is on the 26 . I encourage you to come to council to share your concerns there as well.

Look forward to learning more and making sure we have the best plan in place.

Cheers,
Suzanne

[Mike Carey]

Zack, have you checked in with a fisheries biologist at WDFW for input? A letter from an expert would be good information to read at the council meeting.

[Idstud]

What time is the meeting and where are they holding it at?

[ncwflounderer]

http://www.ci.lake-stevens.wa.us/index.aspx?NID=319" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Idstud]

http://www.ci.lake-stevens.wa.us/index.aspx?NID=319

Thanks

[Idstud]

Ive been talking with Greg at Gregs Custom rods in Lake Stevens since they know the group putting on the Kokanee Derby. They have been talking with the city to make sure they wont start putting That Alum crap in the Lake until after the Derby. So I guess we will see if they hold to that and what happen. I just hate the idea of just shoving pills down your throat and not really fixing the issue.

[Steelheadin360]

Good morning Mr. McGlothern,

Your email to the Mayor and City Council has been forwarded to me. The City and County had spent several years carefully exploring and studying the condition of the lake prior to the decision to perform Alum treatment. You bring up some interesting questions that we are reviewing and hope to get a response back to you soon.

Thank you for your comments.

Mick Monken, P.E.
Director of Public Works/City Engineer
425-377-3237

Honor, Respect, Unified, and Fairness

[Steelheadin360]

Oh how some things can crawl under my skin. Here is an email back form the Public works

Mr. McGlothern,

This comes in response to a coordination effort with the County and City regarding the number of points you made in your 15th January 2015 email to the City of Lake Stevens’ Mayor and Councilmembers.
Our understanding of your points are:
1. Fishing, especially the Kokanee fishery, is a valuable recreational and economic activity in Lake Stevens.

2. The WDFW stocks large numbers of Kokanee fry in Lake Stevens in spring and fall.

3. Kokanee feed on zooplankton in the upper waters beginning in spring and drop to lower depths as water warms up (above 60 F°) in the summer.

4. Alum treatments strip all the algae and zooplankton out of the water column, dramatically clearing the water, removing food for the Kokanee, stressing (starving) fish, and causing collapse of fishery in Lake Stevens.

5. Alum treatments are not the best way to control phosphorus and improve water quality in the lake; banning (phosphorus) fertilizers is an option

6. Delaying the alum treatments until mid or late June when the water is warmer would alleviate some of the stress on Kokanee.

Our response to these points are:
A. Controlling phosphorus entering Lake Stevens from the surrounding watershed is very important for protecting lake water quality. A significant problem at Lake Stevens is the phosphorus that is already in the lake and being released from the bottom sediments; this is the phosphorus that was being controlled by the aeration system; unfortunately, the aeration system is no longer effective because of iron depletion.

B. The City and County are actively working with the Community to attempt to address some of the phosphorus issue at the source. Some examples of these efforts are:
a. City and County, with the assistance of the Snohomish County Conservation District, have a public outreach and education program on method and practices that help to reduce and eliminate phosphorus production.
b. The City has an active Septic education program.
c. The City has an active street sweeping program with an emphasis in the lake’s watershed to pick up and properly disposed of phosphorus generating materials from the roadway.
d. Phosphorus in lawn fertilizers is already banned statewide which the City endorses.
e. Animal waste pick up and disposal.

C. Alum treatments, a Federal and State approved method for treating phosphorus, have proven to be effective at controlling the phosphorus that is released from lake bottom sediments.

D. Typical alum treatments are designed to strip phosphorus and algae out of the water column and form a dense floc that sinks to the lake bottom where the aluminum binds with phosphorus in the sediments to control this internal source of phosphorus; these treatments require a high dose of aluminum sulfate to inactivate the sediment phosphorus (the alum dose in Lake Ketchum was 28 mg Al/L and a similar treatment in Lake Stevens would require 17.5 mg Al/L).

E. We are using a different approach in Lake Stevens—very small annual alum treatments that over time will gradually bind the phosphorus in the lake sediments; accordingly, the dose being used at Lake Stevens is extremely low (approximately 0.15 mg Al/L or less than 1% of a typical lake treatment).

F. Such a low dose does not dramatically clear the water and does not strip all algae (phytoplankton) and zooplankton from the water column. However, the zooplankton may move down in the water column to avoid the alum floc; the majority of the floc settles to the lake bottom within hours.

G. Monitoring data showed very little change in chlorophyll: a concentrations (a measurement of the amount of phytoplankton or algae in the water) between the day before the alum treatments in 2013 and 2014 and one to two weeks after the treatments (a slight increase in 2013 and a slight decrease in 2014). In addition, water clarity in the lake actually got worse after both the 2013 and 2014 treatments. There is no evidence that the alum treatments stripped algae or zooplankton from the water.”

H. Studies at other lakes have shown short term reductions (two months) to zooplankton populations from alum treatments, however, these were from much higher dose treatments.

I. Studies have also shown that, in the long term, zooplankton populations improve after large alum treatments because the phytoplankton communities shift away from blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) toward other, more beneficial, algae.

J. Competition and high consumption of zooplankton by Kokanee and trout may be a cause of decreased zooplankton populations and stress on fish rather than the alum treatments.”

K. The timing of the alum treatments is bounded by water temperatures (lake must be at least 42° F) and by the amount of algae (if there is significant algae, most of the phosphorus will be inside the algae, but the alum dose is too low for the floc to remove most of the algae from the water column).

. The preferred timing for the alum treatments is March, but the treatments can be done anytime between March and June; waiting longer will increase the risks of algae in the water.

M. We are coordinating with WDFW to choose the best time within this window to conduct the alum treatments.


Mick Monken, P.E.
Director of Public Works/City Engineer
425-377-3237

Honor, Respect, Unified, and Fairness

And my not so friendly email I sent back to Mr. Desk Jockey himself

d. Phosphorus in lawn fertilizers is already banned statewide which the City endorses

Youre local hardware store sells fertilizer that is targeted as "lawn fertilizer" Ace Hardware sells Miloganite which is 5-2-0. That contains PHOS and is readily available to lake residents. The state "ban" Doesnt look like its enforced to hard.

F. Such a low dose does not dramatically clear the water and does not strip all algae (phytoplankton) and zooplankton from the water column. However, the zooplankton may move down in the water column to avoid the alum floc; the majority of the floc settles to the lake bottom within hours.

Lake Stevens went from having 6ft of visibility one a sunny day to having almost 14' of visibility after the ALUM treatment. I would have to call that a dramatic water clearing. All the research I have done shows that ALUM Strips Algae and Plankton from the water column. ZooPlankton and Kokanee compete for Plankton for a food source. Them moving down in the water column would have a better effect on the Kokanee. I witnessed the FLOC have a "blueing" effect on the water for over 12 hours.

Competition and high consumption of zooplankton by Kokanee and trout may be a cause of decreased zooplankton populations and stress on fish rather than the alum treatments.”

Trout are the primary feeders on ZooPlankton. Also Lake Stevens does not have a very large sub mature (7-14") population of trout. And many of the trout inhabiting the lake are tripliods and feed on larger prey then Zooplankton. Kokanee are Plankton feeders. The stripping of algae and plankton caused by the floc increase food competition between Zooplankton and Kokanee. Kokanee will ingest Zooplankton while feeding on plankton but it is not their primary food source in Lake Stevens. Their digestive system and their mouths are not diesigned for feeding on larger food. In other Lakes such as Lake Chelan the Kokanee have adapted to eat Zooplankton (primary Mysis Shrimp) Due to the lack of plankton from food competition. Stomach content analysis of Lake Stevens Kokanee shows they are feeding almost exclusively on Plankton.



K. The timing of the alum treatments is bounded by water temperatures (lake must be at least 42° F) and by the amount of algae (if there is significant algae, most of the phosphorus will be inside the algae, but the alum dose is too low for the floc to remove most of the algae from the water column).


L. The preferred timing for the alum treatments is March, but the treatments can be done anytime between March and June; waiting longer will increase the risks of algae in the water.



The Lake Is currently 44 degrees F and will start warming by next month. The cool temps and lack of beneficial sun light doesn't allow for rapid algae growth or support plankton growth. The Kokanee are also in a "WINTER' state right now and are not feeding heavily. Doing these treatments in March as you have stated would allow the Kokanee to flourish in the spring time. I was unaware these treatments could be applied early in the year and I am happy I found that information out. Waiting until May as you did last year had detrimental effects on the fishing and quality of the fish.



I don't know who you have doing your research or studies on the Lake but I would love to have their contact information. As I do not think they have the best interest of the lake Wildlife and fish in their best interests, but rather the lakes bank side residents and the tax money they provide.



A little back ground on my schooling. I attended the Aquatic and Fisheries Science program at the University of Washington and Graduated with a Masters degree. Six years of night and weekend classes and a whole lot of money. I decided I didnt want to be a scientist and pursued a career as a fishing Guide instead. But I am finding my schooling is turning out to be very beneficial during my guiding career and do a lot of "side work." So Im not gonna sit here and be told that these treatments aren't effecting the Plankton and Kokanee populations of the Lake. I have already been given a Scientific collection Permit by WDFW and spent much of last Spring doing catch studies on Kokanee. What my research shows I have already presented to you. I have a meeting with WDFW next month to show them what information my studies have provided.



My hard earned money , as well as many other fishermens, is being wasted because proper studies have not been done on the effects of the ALUM treatments on planted Kokanee in Lake Stevens. I stood back last year and watched it happen. I will not do the same this year.




I will be attending the Council meeting on Monday the 26th of this month, that is next monday. I storngly urgue other Lake Stevens anglers to do the same