NOVEMBER 2024
Pump update provided by Fred Fornell
The pump has been running. We are currently awaiting the delivery of a lake level sensor from a company named ToltHawk. They were recommended by Todd Feenstra.
With this piece of equipment, you can access their website and see examples of other lakes using the sensors. We will be able to access this sensor data for our lake utilizing a cell phone.
I don’t have a current lake level but with precipitation levels at 10-year lows for the last three months, the lake level appears to be holding steady.
The pump is clearly running more efficiently than the original pump. We are shutting down the pump temporarily and will begin pumping again sometime this winter
Weed management update provided by Tom Hable
We have the 2025 Restoration Lake Services (RLS) contract and they have held the price again. We will also retain the chemical application services from Pinecrest Industries.
SEPTEMBER 2024
Lake Level/Pump update
Provided by Fred Fornell.
For the most part the well has been running all summer. It was out two days in June and two days last month due to temporary electrical outages. It was off for one day last week but turned back on the very next day. We assumed that to be a brief outage as well. As of this past Friday (Sept. 13) it was running just fine.
Our lake level has declined significantly over the past two months. We have only had 1.27” of precipitation since the beginning of August. This is approximately 6” below average at this point in time.
The augmentation well will never offset a significant drought. We have always maintained that successful augmentation of the lake is dependent upon, at least, average rainfall and average temperatures.
Groundwater levels have declined over the last few months as well. Adequate groundwater levels remain the greatest source of water that governs the level of the lake.
The well can only help to offset normal losses in lake level that we see during the typical summer growing season. What we are seeing is not normal. We need rain, and lots of it.
SEPTEMBER 2024
Weed treatment
Property owners on the lake should have received a postcard from Pinecrest Industries within the past few days alerting residents to the company’s plans to treat our lake weeds on or about Sept. 24, 2024.
There are approximately nine locations around the lake that will be treated for Eurasian Watermilfoil, using the chemical Tribune. If the area near your property is being treated, a sign will be posted on your property near the shoreline facing the water at the time of treatment. All pertinent information for specific treatment will be posted on the sign.
If you have a sign, it means your area was treated and will have some restrictions: No swimming for 1 day, no crop irrigation, livestock watering or similar use for 3 days, and no irrigation of turf/non-food crops for 5 days.
May 2024
Weed Treatment
Pinecrest Industries will be treating specified areas of Barron Lake on Thursday, May 30.
Please read postcard with additional important information.
May 2024
We’ve had some good precipitation, as well. The lake has gained approximately 2 1/2 inches in the past two weeks. The groundwater sensors are back in and the lake level sensor has been put in place, as well. Todd Feenstra will be able to present some new data at the June lake association meeting. It takes a while to gather any meaningful data to determine efficacy with the new well. We will have some good data over the next couple of months. For now, it’s looking good.
February 2024
Pump is operational!
After years of planning and years of continuous challenges, everything has been completed with the new well. On Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, the switch was flipped, and the water is flowing.
As board members, we expected completion of this project last year. Many unforeseen challenges prompted so much frustration to the point we wondered when this project would come to fruition. The end result is a steady stream of water flowing into the lake—just as was planned.
I would like to give a shout out to fellow board members: Tom Hable, Jim Muckerheide, Debbie Floor and Bruno Eidietis, along with a huge salute to Fred Fornell. I stopped counting at 10,000 the number of reasons Fred could have thrown in the towel and walked away. But his diligence and devotion never wavered.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the hydrologist, Todd Feenstra, president of Tritium, Inc. for all his assistance in the planning for this new well since day one.
On behalf of the entire board, our sincere thank you for a job well done.
Below are some photos and a brief video showing the water being pumped into the lake.
Rick Marneris
