This year has brought some significant changes to the water quality at Devil's Lake, and the news is mostly positive! One of the most noticeable differences has been the absence of elodea, the invasive aquatic plant that has plagued our waters in the past. Most reports from around the lake have indicated no visible signs of elodea. This is a remarkable improvement from previous years.

In fact, there has been only one report of elodea so far. A diver at the west end of the lake found approximately one foot of elodea growing at the bottom. However, they did not observe any elodea growing around their docks. Instead, there have been observations of Vallisneria, commonly known as eelgrass, in shallow water areas. While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, it seems that the growth of elodea has been delayed rather than eliminated entirely.

There is speculation about what might have contributed to this change. A combination of factors, such as the unusually cold winter with a week of freezing weather on the coast earlier this year and the introduction of 5,000 grass carp into the lake, may have had a positive impact. This theory is supported by the fact that the Devil's Lake Water Improvement District (DLWID) has not launched the weed harvester this year because there simply aren't any weeds for it to harvest.

Will this trend continue? It's hard to say, but there haven't been any complaints about elodea from around the lake. The DLWID plans to conduct another survey of the weeds towards the end of the summer, which should provide more concrete data on the progress we've made.

In terms of other water quality issues, we have more good news to share. There have been no E. coli warnings posted this season, and we have not had any cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) warnings since the aeration system was installed several years ago. This is a very positive development for everyone who enjoys the lake.

For those interested in more detailed water quality information, including rainfall, lake level, and temperature readings, you can visit dlwid.org/water-sampling/.