State Representative Jim Buchy
Lake Facilities Authority-Moving Forward and Making Progress 

For several years now, we have been monitoring Grand Lake St. Marys water quality for improvement.  Although it has been a slow process with multiple approaches making marked improvements, the new conservation efforts have made the water quality better than it was three and four years ago. A long-term solution is needed and local citizens are working to design a path for that long-term plan. 

In the watershed, local citizens are working to reduce phosphorous flows by limiting the times when they spread manure, constructing proper holding facilities for manure and planting cover crops to hold the soil in place. 

In the lake, actions have been focused on increasing the ability of the lake to naturally manage nutrient intake and control of current nutrient levels.  Rough fish removal is helping to balance the ecosystem inside the lake, alum treatments have managed algae growth in the lake, dredging of the lake has increased, and construction of treatment trains will filter water before entering the lake. 

Over the past three years actions to restore the lake have been a team effort, including local residents in the watershed and on the lake, as well as the local, state and federal governments.  In order to move forward with a more permanent solution the local commissioners have asked for a new law that would allow for the creation of a Lake Facilities Authority (LFA).  This is in keeping with the current efforts that have been inclusive and effective.  The LFA is part of the state budget that was signed into law in July.  The new body will be controlled by local community members and elected officials and will have the ability to raise funds and make decisions regarding lake restoration. 

The work of the LFA is important to bring more economic opportunity to the region in the future.  By statute all work done by the LFA must be tied directly to algae mitigation at Grand Lake St. Marys.  You will be able to hold the LFA accountable because local elected officials that you know and trust will be responsible for all decisions made by the LF.  They have personally witnessed the lake’s impact to the region and our economy, and have even been affected by it themselves, which is why they are highly dedicated to the lake’s remediation. 

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