Spring Lake
Project Details
Client
Spring Lake – Lake BoardLocation
Ottawa County, MIMuskegon County, MI
Scale
1,091 acresCompletion
OngoingSpring Lake is a drowned river mouth lake that drains to the Grand River, a short distance upstream of Lake Michigan. The lake has over 25 miles of shoreline and is bordered by five municipalities. The establishment of a legal lake board for Spring Lake by local governmental units provided a mechanism to coordinate management activities on the lake. Extensive study of Spring Lake found that the release of phosphorus from the deep-water sediments was a major contributor to nuisance algae growth. In 2005, a compound called alum (aluminum sulfate) was applied to the lake to bind phosphorus to the sediment. Progressive AE biologists conduct annual monitoring of the lake to evaluate water quality and to detect invasive plant species. In 2014, hydro-acoustic mapping of the lake bottom was completed and an informational web site was created. Visit www.springlakeboard.org for more information.