Grand Lake Revisited - Can 4 States Work Together to Protect Its Water Quality Drew Holt, Executive Director
Elk River Watershed Improvement Association
(I asked Drew to continue last week's article on the problems faced in the Grand Lake Watershed. Watershed's that encompass multiple states and even EPA regions face a much more difficult time developing a comprehensive plan to protect their streams and lakes from pollution. David Casaletto, Executive Director, Ozarks Water Watch) Grand Lake O' the Cherokees and its large and complex 10,298 square mile watershed serves as a classic example of how water quality downstream is impacted by upstream watersheds. Only eight percent of the Grand Lake watershed is located within the state of Oklahoma. Phosphorous and other nutrients flow into Grand Lake from the Neosho, Spring and Elk Rivers which are in parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma (see map below). As many of you know, Grand Lake had a major blue-green algae outbreak just before and during the July 4th holiday weekend. Smaller reservoirs, upstream from Grand Lake, in parts of the Neosho River watershed in Kansas recently experienced blue-green algae outbreaks and public health advisories issued. These advisories allow for boating and fishing at lakes, but all other contact with water is discouraged for people and pets.  | | A map of the drainage area of Grand Lake |
I know firsthand how important subwatersheds are to water quality in Grand Lake because I am executive director of the Elk River Watershed Improvement Association and also serve as vice chairman of the Grand Lake Watershed Alliance Foundation (Alliance Foundation) Board of Directors. So I have experienced water quality problems and solutions in the four-state region from a unique perspective. When the Alliance Foundation, a citizen based non-profit organization, was formed in late 2007, it was known that Grand Lake had elevated levels of nutrients and was at risk; however, water quality conditions in the total watershed were not clearly known. So the Alliance Foundation completed an assessment and in 2008 issued a Grand Lake Watershed Plan (glwaf.org) which concluded nearly the entire watershed was experiencing elevated levels of nutrients, especially risks from phosphorous. And the Alliance Foundation concluded without drastic action being undertaken immediately, water quality in the total watershed would degrade during coming years. However, unlike other large, complex watersheds, the four watershed states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma presently have not established any means or method to manage the watershed in its entirety. There is no agreement between these states nor is there any method to make executive decisions necessary to improve water quality. As it now stands, each of the four watershed states make independent decisions about which lakes and streams within their borders receive their scarce technical and financial resources. Each state decides which priority is given to any particular watershed, including those that may cross state lines. That's why the Alliance Foundation issued a Strategic Plan in 2009 calling for a formal agreement to be crafted between the four watershed states as a means of effectively managing the Grand Lake watershed by establishing consistent water quality standards and identifying and funding priority water quality improvement projects. Reducing water quality risks resulting from elevated nutrients requires a collective effort. That's true whether it's the Elk River watershed which is impacted by what happens in the portions of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma or whether it is the Grand Lake watershed.
 | | Bass Fisherman on Grand Lake, OK |
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency emphasizes that watersheds should be managed as a total watershed. While they have published guidance about how to prepare a watershed plan for smaller watersheds, no guidance whatsoever has been published by the EPA about how a large and complex watershed, such as Grand Lake, should be managed nor is there any guidance for preparing a watershed plan for such a large and complex watershed. Many large watersheds in this Nation long ago established some form of management organization such as a commission or some type of formal partnership. So any future reductions in water quality risks to Grand Lake and its numerous streams and smaller reservoirs may largely depend on the answer to this question: Will Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma create a formal partnership agreement that provides for management of the entire Grand Lake watershed? | 
