Published: March 24, 2008 09:10 am         

Hearing set for Georgetown Lake

IEPA plan focuses on clean water statewide

GEORGETOWN — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency seeks public comment on a plan to reduce pollutants in the Little Vermilion River/Georgetown Lake watershed area, south of Georgetown.

The IEPA’s Bureau of Water will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. April 9, at the American Legion Hall Post 203, 106 E. West St., Georgetown.

The meeting will present information on the proposed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) implementation plan for Little Vermilion River/Georgetown Lake watershed area.

“It is also an opportunity for the public to comment on the implementation plan to reduce pollutants,” Maggie Carson, an IEPA spokeswoman, said.

The implementation plan details the recommendations for reducing total pollutant loads that are necessary for meeting the approved TMDL for this watershed.

The Little Vermilion River had been Georgetown’s drinking water source until about five years ago when high nitrate levels and low water supply forced the city to pipe its water from Cayuga, Ind., which gets its water from the Wabash River alluvial aquifer.

But Ed Shirley, Georgetown’s water and sewer superintendent, said even though the lake and river are no longer a drinking water source for the city, it could be somewhere else downstream.

“We care (about pollutants in the water) because a downstream user may use it for their drinking water,” he said.

“The water also serves as a recharge area for an aquifer,” he added. “That’s the reason we care about the water quality.”

Georgetown Lake primarily is a favorite fishing spot these days.

“It’s turned into a recreational lake rather than a source of drinking water,” Shirley said. “People fish in there.

“The nitrates are there, though,” he said. “It’s everybody’s responsibility to keep it clean.”

IEPA’s efforts to reduce the amount of pollutants and improve water quality are not exclusive to Georgetown.

“It’s something we’re doing all over the state for impaired streams,” Carson said.

“It has to do with a change in the federal government’s approach (about water pollution),” she said.

The IEPA is implementing the TMDL program in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act.

A TMDL is the sum of the allowable amounts of a single pollutant — such as phosphorus and metals — that a water body can receive from all contributing sources and still meet water quality standards or designated uses.

The proposed Little Vermilion River Watershed and Georgetown Lake Watershed implementation plan will be available online at http://www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices.

A hard copy of the draft implementation plan also will be available by request from the IEPA or may be found at the Georgetown City Hall and Vermilion County Soil and Water Conservation District during normal business hours.

FOR COMMENTS

Questions about the TMDL should be directed to Dean Studer. The meeting record will close as of midnight May 9. Written comments need not be notarized, but must be postmarked before midnight May 9 and mailed to: Dean Studer, supervisor of the Watershed Management Planning Unit, Bureau of Water, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, 1021 N. Grand Ave. East, P. O. Box 19276, Springfield, IL 62794-9276. He also may be contacted by phone at (217) 782-3362, e-mail: Dean.Studer@illinois.gov, or fax at (217) 785-1225.