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West Lake Village

“Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children.”
-Ecologist Lee Talbot

The lake is our greatest asset.

Studies show that water clarity has a statistically significant impact on property prices. Clearer water means higher property prices, all things being equal. Therefore Proactive lake management is crucial to help preserve the health, beauty and depth of our lake. A proactive plan doesn’t just address the conditions in the water, it also looks at the surroundings.
Nitrogen allows nutrient-rich plants and algae to grow. Other organisms feed off these plants and algae, creating a complex, healthy ecosystem. As they are the source of oxygen. A lake must have a healthy amount of oxygen to sustain life, but nutrient pollution will occur when there is an excess of NITROGEN and PHOSPHEROUS.
Source of pollutions are from a watershed. Every lake is in a watershed of some sort and the run off from watershed flows into the lake, this watershed includes the ground up to the water’s edge. This run off is the major culprit of lake pollution.
Therefore, we must mitigate as best as possible the introduction of these pollutants

Lake Commission

Lake management planning process is a way for stakeholders to come together with a common interest in improving and protecting their lake. Having a document with specific goals, objectives, and actions for the future of the lake makes the lake management process easier and helps guide how time and resources are spent.

Strategic Imperatives

Managing Our Lake

Dredging -Every 5 Years

Dredging is the process of removing excess sediment. This is an impactful management solution to overcome the lake’s natural process of sedimentation. Dredging helps reset the lifecycle of a waterbody and has many benefits. One is it removes nutrient-laden sediments.


Open Dredging PDF

What is a Watershed

A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that falls in it and drains off of it goes to a common outlet, our lake. We are surrounded 1000s of acres of watersheds. Not only does water run into the lake from the surface of a watershed, but water also filters through the soil, and some of this water eventually drains into the lake.


Open Watershed Ecology PDF

We Have a Wetland

Wetlands are the ‘kidneys of lakes We are fortunate to a have wetland which can intercept runoff from surfaces prior to reaching our lake and remove pollutants. It is therefore IMPORTANT that we manage and maintain the wetland, if we do nothing our lake would suffer irreparable damage. Therefore we must  DREDGE the ponds


Wetlands Explained PDF

Help the Wetland

We have to plant and preserve a naturally vegetated buffer between sensitive land and water resources.
Vegetated buffers help shield wetlands from polluted storm water runoff,
soil and bank erosion, toxic chemicals and other substances that would otherwise
flow into the water. We must also protect wetlands from human disturbance. NO FISHING SIGNS.

What Can We Do

Many Small actions = One Big Impact.
We all should use fertilizers and lawn services that do not use phosphorus. Pick up pet waste which is high in nutrients similar to fertilizer and has fecal bacteria. In the winter, use less salt on your sidewalks and driveways.

What We Must Do.

Lakes are complex ecosystems with numerous inputs and outputs that can impact water quality in subtle or drastic ways. A real-time monitoring system enables lake management to stay abreast of constantly changing water quality, and a nutrient budget thus, enabling any mitigation deemed necessary. We regularly have to do a fish survey to help us maintain a good assortment of healthy fish.

Aquatic Invaders.

The economic and social impacts of invasive species include both direct effects of a species on property values, and our lake water quality as well as costs associated with invasive species control efforts. There are nearly 200 non-native species in the Great Lakes region. Boaters, and anglers can easily spread aquatic invaders by accidentally moving adults, juveniles, larvae, plant parts or seeds. Aquatic invaders can attach to fishing lines, nets, boats, trailers, bait buckets. Do Not enter our lake with aquatic plants and animals on the exterior of watercraft or boat trailers. Dispose of all unwanted bait and fish parts in the trash not into the water. Never release organisms caught from another waterbody into our lake Unfortunately, we have no way to wash the outside of our boats or trailers.

Woodchip Bioreactor.

We aim to introduce a few more Bio Reactors. To reduce nitrate contamination of water bodies, scientists are researching ways to remove nitrate from the drainage water. A wood chip bioreactor has proven to be an effective and affordable way to remove nitrate. Wood chips work in conjunction with carbon-eating bacteria to remove the pollutant. These woodchip bioreactors can eliminate 15 to 90 percent of nitrate in drainage water.

Fish and Fishing

Don’t Kill Your Limit.

After being caught and released by an angler, fish may die for a variety of reasons. The most common causes of death are the physiological stresses caused by the struggle during capture and injuries caused by the hook or the angler.
Two types of hooks, barbless and circle hooks, are known to reduce injury and mortality of released fishes. Barbless hooks reduce tissue damage and handling stress because they can be removed quickly and easily.
If barbless hooks are not available, simply use pliers to crimp or remove the barbs from regular hooks. A caveat is called for when using these types of hooks: after having hooked your quarry, don’t give the fish any slack, because it will be more likely to escape from barbless hooks than from regular hooks.


Open Catch and Release PDF

Our Fish

White Crappie
White Crappies have 5 or 6 dorsal spines. White Crappies are usually more numerous and tend to be larger than Black Crappies. The White Cappies begin spawning at water temperatures between 65- and 70-degrees F. The female White crappie lays between 1,000 and 200,000 eggs
bcrappie
Black Crappies have 7 or 8 dorsal spines. Black crappies appear darker because of the dark spots on its sides. Black crappies beg spawning when the water temperature reaches 60 to 64 degrees F. Females lay between 20,000 and 140,000 eggs.
smbass
Smallmouth Bass the upper jaw level with the eye. No break between the dorsal fins. Brownish body with vertical lines. Smallmouth are much more acrobatic and put up a better fight pound-for-pound.
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The Muskie is a very efficient predator. It lays in wait near the shoreline often in shallow water. It hides in weeds, near or under logs and rocks. In the summer as the water warms up, Muskies move to the cooler waters at lower depths. But will remain close to shallow water using drop-offs for cover.
They have a preference for larger fish over small fish. Muskies strike quickly. They often take their prey to a secluded area before eating it
lmbass1
Largemouth Bass the upper jaw extends past the eye. Deep notch separating the dorsal fins. Greenish body with horizontal lines. Largemouth grow bigger and can be fun to search out in cover
catfish1
Catfish are known for their whiskers, or barbels, which help them taste and smell. Most catfish are toothless omnivores and range in size from around 10 feet long to the size of a toothpick
Their food list includes small fish, insects along with their larvae, small birds, aquatic plants, seeds, crustaceans, as well as smaller catfish.
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The bluegill is noted for the black spot (the “ear”) that it has on each side of the posterior edge of the gills and base of the dorsal fin. They mostly feed on small aquatic insects and fish. The fish play a key role in the food chain, and are prey for other fish



Teach our Kids  to Fish.

 Have fun. Part of being a parent, step-parent, guardian or friend to children is to enjoy each event on their level. The number of fish caught, the species of fish or the size of fish is not important. It is important for children to enjoy the outdoors and fishing. Make this trip one of many such bonding experiences. You can introduce kids to nature, the value of the environment, the importance of fish and game laws and the biology and habitat of fish. The “fun” part is most important, so that they will want to go fishing again. Such trips will help cement relationships and help children learn about a sport that they can enjoy their entire lives.


Teach Kids to Fish

News Letters


March-Lake-Com-Newsletter


April-Lake-Com-Newsletter


June-Lake-Com-Newsletter

Contact Us

Lake Committee email — https://www.wlvlore@gmail 
Lake Management Committee 

Property of WLV Lake Management Committee