CARLYLE LAKE ASSOCIATION

Transcription

1 CARLYLE LAKE ASSOCIATION Who We Are: The Carlyle Lake Association (CLA) is An organization of citizens (stakeholders) working for the betterment of Carlyle Lake. The lake has become a treasured resource to thousands of people from throughout southern Illinois and the St. Louis metropolitan area. The CLA members have a remarkable variety of interests: Sailing and boating at the lake Enjoying exceptional campgrounds Taking opportunities to hike, hunt, fish and observe wildlife Growing crops near the lake Living in the area Running a business that depends on the lake Often, the interests of some lake users may appear to be in conflict with those of others. CLA, founded in 1995, has grown to be the one voice that speaks for all the interests in Carlyle Lake and works to reconcile differences to everyone's benefit. If Carlyle Lake is any part of your life, you should support CLA and join now. Complete the membership application below. What We Do: CLA acts as the one voice for the many diverse interests in the Carlyle Lake area. It is recognized as the one organization that speaks for the users of the lake by government and business entities connected with the lake. Some of these entities are: The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which manages the lake water level and controls organized activities thereon. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which manages two state parks at the lake The Carlyle Economic Development Committee The Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the watershed of Carlyle Lake The Kaskaskia Watershed Association, made up of stakeholder groups similar to CLA throughout the Kaskaskia River watershed Also, as a member organization of the Kaskaskia Watershed Association (KWA), CLA represents Carlyle Lake interests in issues that affect the entire Kaskaskia River system, of which our lake is an integral part. Through KWA, the president of CLA is a member of the stakeholder advisory committee for a comprehensive Kaskaskia Watershed Study being performed by USACE as mandated by the US Congress. Who Represents My Interests: Your CLA Board of Directors are:

2 Agriculture Chuck White Bob Seiffert Landowners Gerald Donaldson Brent McKinnon Business Don Berdeaux Mike Burton Fish & Wildlife Bill Fritz Open At Large Recreation Ted Beier Cal Guthrie Marina Operators Greg Kintz Open Norma Hall The CLA president is Ted Beier from CSA. He has followed Jim Harris who was the founding president. Greg Kintz is secretary, and Don Berdeaux is treasurer. The Board meets the second Wednesday of March, June, September, and December, 7 PM, in the Carlyle USACE conference room. If you wish to attend and/or bring something to our attention, please contact the secretary, or a Board member for assistance. You are welcome to attend as our meetings are open to the public. How Do I Join CLA: Please print the form below and mail the form with your check to: Greg Kintz, Secretary, 400 Chesterfield Ctr., Ste 400, Chesterfield, MO $10 /Year, Individual or Family; $20 /Year, Association or Business Name Address City, State, Zip Fax Phone Please number your primary interest 1, other interests 2, 3, 4, etc. Agriculture Fish & Wildlife Landowner (not farm) Business Owner Marina Operator Camping Boating & Sailing Conservation Other

3 What Are Our Accomplishments/Issues: accomplishments include: 1. We worked with the Corps of Engineers (USACE), to secure $22M in federal funding for major upgrades at the Carlyle Lake Project. Much of this was spent at CSA, Tradewinds, Boulder, and West Access Marinas for dredging and high water protection. 2. We successfully petitioned the USACE to perform a depth survey at the north end of the lake, which will be used in a study of feasible future use of this portion of the lake. 3. We have secured two small barges, and transported them to Carlyle, for use as work platforms for dredging and bank stabilization efforts. Figure We successfully lobbied the Illinois Department of Transportation to prevent their closing the I-70 interchange at Pierron, and moving it to Highland. This exit is a vital access to Carlyle Lake visitors from the north and west portions of the Metro St. Louis area. 5. With the help of Heartlands Conservancy (HC), CLA has secured a grant of $10,000 from, Ducks Unlimited and $2000 each from Carlyle Lake Waterfowlers, Migratory Waterfowl Hunters (Alton), and Mississippi Valley Duck Hunters (Belleville) to rock reinforce levees in the Carlyle Lake Wildlife Management Area that were damaged by flooding. CLA contributed $5000 to the project plus a $500 contribution to HC for their efforts. The work continues at present by Schaefer Contracting of Carlyle. Figure CKA formed a partnership with USACE Carlyle Project Office to build a boat access structures for handicapped boaters at the West Access ramp. Project partners in addition to $1700 from CLA include in-kind donations from the City of Carlyle. 7. Annual contribution of $750 to the Carlyle fireworks. 8. Member of, and active participation in, the Carlyle Economic Development Committee initiatives include: 1. Supporting Carlyle Sailing Association in their efforts to obtain funds from IDNR to repair flood damage at their installation in Hazlet State Park. 2. Taking a proactive role in the current USACE update of the Carlyle Project Masterplan to insure that our needs are included; flood remediation at CSA in particular. (see Masterplan Article below) 3. Serving on the stakeholder committee advising USACE in the Kaskaskia Basin Study mandated by Congress as a result of lobbying by KWA/CLA. CLA is championing several recommended project recommendations vital to lake users. (See article, Kaskaskia Basin Study below) 4. Supporting efforts to remove Cox Bridge at the north end of the lake. The bridge is closed, and is a safety hazard to boaters and hunters using the area. For more detail, refer to the CLA Workplan, which may be obtained by request from a CLA officer or director.

4 Figure 1, Barge in use at Tradewinds Ramp Figure 2, Levee Rock Placement in Washout Area Figure 3, Severely Eroded Kaskaskia Bank North of Carlyle Lake

5 Carlyle Lake Masterplan USACE is required to create a master plan for each of its projects, which details the uses of the project, its operating regulations and procedures, the relative value of facilities/concessions there, and a roadmap for maintenance and improvements. This document must be updated every ten years or so, and the Carlyle Lake plan is in that process between December 2015 and December 2016; with a draft scheduled for July Obviously, both CLA and CSA are extremely interested in including their needs and desires therein. A kickoff meeting was hosted by USACE at Carlyle on 3 December at which public comment was solicited. Ted Beier, Carlyle Lake Association president, attended representing CLA. Jim Harris and Mike Pitzer accompanied representing CSA. (Surprisingly, there were no Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) representatives at this meeting although they lease three major areas at Carlyle.) During the breakout session, we were able to meet with Brad Keshlear, the new plan s principal author, for the better part of an hour to discuss the value of CSA to the Carlyle Lake Project and document our flood remediation needs to him. We indicated our disappointment with material about CSA in the 1998 (most recent) master plan document, and commented that the authors did not understand: (1) the value of CSA to the Carlyle Project and surrounding area, (2) the uniqueness of CSA as a concessionaire and the beneficial programs offered, (3) the serious, continual flood damage to the CSA facility, and (4) the lack of support by the IDNR, and the lack of push on them from USACE. During this session we gave Mr. Keshlear a CD with the following documents: CSA Flood Remediation Project Paper White Paper on the Flooding Issue at CSA Excel spreadsheet on the value of CSA to the community in 1998 dollars (typical non-flood year) Selected paragraphs from the 1998 master plan document with should have included text about CSA. The lack of support by IDNR for their facilities at Carlyle in general was discussed also. In addition there is no proactive representation for the state fish and wildlife area or Eldon Hazlet State Park needs in addition to those of CSA. All have suffered significant flood damage; the responsibility for which should be shared between IDNR and USACE. We met with Mark Decker who attended the meeting, and is the Legislative assistant to State Rep John Cavaletto. Mark was very cordial and interested in our CSA flooding concerns. Mike Pitzer offered to give him a quick tour of CSA, he agreed, and they went over to the CSA harbor. He had never seen it nor heard of it for that matter. Like other first timers he was impressed and surprised with the facilities. Mike showed him first hand the seawall area and explained the impact of flooding over the wall on our operation. He toured the OB and they returned to the meeting. Kaskaskia Basin Study The comprehensive study of the Kaskaskia River Basin authorized by the US Congress has been initiated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). A kickoff meeting for selected stakeholders was held in Carlyle on 10, 11 December 2015 to obtain input on the issues to be examined for possible engineering studies/solutions. The meeting included representatives of the Kaskaskia Watershed Association (CLA is a member); local, district,

6 division, and national representatives of USACE; and other conservation interest groups. It should be noted that the study will emphasize ecosystem restoration, but will also consider other interests that align with the ecosystem concerns. No one from IDNR attended except two field level personnel. To form breakout study groups, the basin was divided into the four reaches defined by KWA: Reach 1, headwaters to Shelbyville Dam; Reach 2, Shelbyville Dam to Carlyle Dam; Reach 3, Carlyle Dam to Fayetteville; and Reach 4, Fayetteville to the Mississippi. CLA led the effort for Reach 2, and had three representatives at the meeting; Ted Beier, CLA president, plus Russell Schwarm and Chuck White, landowners along the river north of Carlyle Lake. The format of the meeting was to discuss various assigned topics in the study groups, and report them back to the entire meeting for critique. The topics discussed were: issues/problems, objectives for improvement, opportunities for improvement related to other interests, impact of doing nothing, impediments to improvement, and recommended projects to implement solutions. The contributions of the Reach 2 group are enumerated in the following paragraphs. Issues/problems: Bank erosion and sediment transport caused by high energy flows and flooding throughout reach (Figure 3) Water management; rapid entry of water to system, high energy rapid flow, flooding Flow restriction at the north end of Carlyle Lake caused by sedimentation exacerbating local flooding acres of impaired habitat caused by sedimentation and flooding throughout Carlyle Lake area Loss of waterfowl food supply caused by summer flooding Loss of fish spawn areas caused by sedimentation Reduced water quality from sedimentation and agricultural runoff Objectives : Improve water management entering and in river system Reduce flooding Reduce erosion/sedimentation Restore, increase, maintain habitat Opportunities related to other interests: Recreation: reduced flooding, improved water quality Agriculture: reduced erosion, river bank loss Fish and waterfowl: improved habitat, reduced sedimentation, reduced flooding Impact of doing nothing (in 20 to 50 years): River ceases to flow at north end of Carlyle Lake without flooding Reduced ability of lake to store water for urban/industrial supply, navigation, recreation Recreation industry severely reduced Waterfowl migration pattern move westward away from Kaskaskia Basin Reduced fish population

7 Loss of endangered species and increase of invasive species Impediments to improvement: Lack of participation by State of Illinois in project partnerships USACE and EPA regulations/restrictions Urban development without water management planning Potential impact on downstream reaches of river Recommended study and implementation topics: Design/development of flow structures to protect bank erosion in outside bends for implementation in the river between Carlyle Lake and Shelbyville Develop system of levees and flowage easements in the miles south of Carlyle dam to return the allowable summer flow from 4000 cfs to 7000 cfs without downstream damage Define and implement an approach to return the flow capability of the river at its entry to Carlyle Lake to that of the 1970s Develop a system of habitat plots, fish spawning areas, and water channels in the north end of the lake These and similar inputs from the other reaches were gathered by those from USACE that will be performing the study. It was noted that many of the themes found in these Reach 2 inputs were echoed in those from Reaches 1, 3, and 4.