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Little Pine Island Lake
Latest Drain Commission Action email us: admin@littlepineislandlake.com |
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| by Randy DuBois | ||
| 11/09/2010 | ||
| The Kent County Drain Commission has just about completed work on the lake drainage channel. They replaced the metal pipe that runs under Ketchel drive and dug out the drainage ditch that runs east/west between Hass and Ketchel as well as the ditch between Ketchel and the housing development. On the surface this sounds like a good thing, better drainage means less water in our basements & crawl spaces. I know, I have trouble with ground water myself, I like the idea of not having water coming through my basement walls but I also like the idea of a healthy lake and lake watershed. | ||
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The Ketchel Drive wetland that runs north/south along Ketchel Drive is directly connected to our lake through underground springs. In the spring time when the wetland in full of water it sends some of that water underground into our lake in the form of springs. This
wetland is a very important reservoir to our lake, the Ketchel Drive wetland is 30 to 40 acres, that's 1/3 to1/4 the size of our lake. |
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Is the drain commission action damaging our lake?
I believe the answer is yes and here's why. If you go to the 1940 Michigan DNR map of Little Pine Island Lake and zoom in on the lake access channel you will see the arrow pointing toward the lake. The map legend indicates that this is intermittent flow. This means that in the spring when water is plentiful the water from the Ketchel Drive wetland flows toward the lake, then later in the year when rainfall is less the wetland acts as a reservoir and continues to send water to our lake through underground springs. Only during long spells without rainfall does the water table in the wetland drop to the point that it no longer sends water into the lake through springs. The drain commission action of digging out the drainage channel at the south edge of the wetland to such a low level is lowering the water table in the wetland damaging this important underground connection to the lake. By taking this action the drain commission is pulling more water from our lake when our lake level is currently at one of the lowest points in many years.. See for yourself, go the the newly cleaned out drainage ditch and see how the water is being drained from the wetland.
This action is sure to contribute to low lake levels for a long time to come.
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