We have adopted a new look for our quarterly updates to you on Friends’ activities. We hope you like it. Should you have suggestions on topics you would like us to cover in future emails, please send us a note at info@friendsoflakeleelanau.com.
We’d like to brief you on:
- Friends’ first grant to the LLLA—an update on the progress combating invasive species;
- A recent report on water quality;
- Friends’ 2024 annual report and audit; and
- Volunteer opportunities.
Invasive Species
The Foundation made its first grant to the Lake Leelanau Lake Association (LLLA) in January of this year in the amount of $291,380. The primary purpose of the grant was to fund the Association’s work combating aquatic and terrestrial invasive species and to assess the Lake’s water quality. Nancy Popa summarized the Association’s progress in her quarterly report to the Foundation in early July:
- The burlap barriers are working! LLLA estimates the area infested with Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM) has been reduced from 7 to10 acres in 2019 to approximately one-half acre in mid-2025.
- Careful surveys of both the south and north lakes have been completed this year. Monitoring will continue to be a critically important activity for years to come.
- LLLA’s employees are staffing the four busiest boat wash stations this summer on the weekends. Volunteers staff the stations Monday through Thursday.
- Finally, the Association is also addressing the threats presented by three terrestrial invasive species: yellow flag iris, purple loosestrife and phragmites.
- In addition to EWM, the Association is monitoring the lake for other aquatic invasive species, including curly leaf pondweed.
Water Quality in Lake Leelanau
Friends’ grant funds also enabled the Lake Association to contract with Grand Valley State University to evaluate three decades of data measuring water quality in Lake Leelanau. The study represents one of the most comprehensive long-term lake monitoring datasets in the region, and involved the analysis of more than 20,000 samples over 34 years.
A summary of the report, as well as a complete copy, are posted at www.friendsoflakeleelanau.org. Key findings and recommendations:
Continued monitoring, especially of early indicators of eutrophication (the surplus of nutrients in the water, which can cause dense plant growth, and deprive animal life of oxygen).
The water quality in both south and north Lake Leelanau remains high but the Lake faces increasing risks from:
- Rising surface temperatures;
- Increased phosphorus loading;
- Longer stratification periods; and
- Greater potential for harmful algal blooms
The report emphasizes implementing best management practices including:
- Reducing fertilizer use on lakefront properties;
- Installing rain gardens and water quality landscaping;
- Focusing mitigation efforts on tributaries which feed the lake; and
- Continued monitoring, especially of early indicators of eutrophication (the surplus of nutrients in the water, which can cause dense plant growth and deprive animal life of oxygen.)
2024 Annual Report and Audit
Copies of Friends’ 2024 Annual Report were mailed to all supporters this spring. Recently, Gabridge & Company completed their audit of the Foundation’s finances for the year ending December 31, 2024 and issued a clean opinion. Copies of the annual report and audit are posted on the Foundation’s website: www.friendsoflakeleelanau.org
Interested in Volunteering?
Friends and the Lake Leelanau Lake Association co-hosted a very pleasant summer reception in June at Boathouse Vineyards on the Narrows. If you would like to join the group of volunteers organizing this delightful event next spring, would you please let us know? Similarly, should you have an interest in organizing Friends’ float for next year’s Fourth of July parade in Leland, your energy and ideas are welcome. For both opportunities, please contact Carol at secretary@friendslakeleelanau.org.