Just in time for the holiday weekend, the southwest Iowa town of Carter Lake has been given the okay to reopen its namesake lake to swimmers and boaters. Brad Richardson, the lake’s project manager, says a chemical that helps to control algae was poured into the body of water two weeks ago.
They used aluminum-sulfate which binds up the phosphorus in the lake, the chemical that fuels algae growth. Algae clouds the water and chokes out the sunlight, preventing most other plants and creatures from surviving. Richardson says the chemical application has made a very noticeable difference in the lake.
He says the water clarity was five-and-a-half feet, where usually, the algae is already starting to grow at a rapid rate. Richardson says it’s rewarding for residents and visitors to be able to look down into Carter Lake and see the bottom.
“You can see a lot of fish swimming around in the lake,” he says. “It’s more appealing and I think we’ll be able to see parts of the lake and things in the lake that we probably haven’t seen before.” Other restoration efforts will take place this summer and fall, including plans to restock the lake with large mouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish. The horseshoe-shaped Carter Lake surrounds the community of Carter Lake. The town itself is actually on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River.