Why Is Table Rock Lake So Clear this Year?
40 Foot Visibility Not Seen in 30 Years!
David Casaletto, Executive Director, Ozarks Water Watch
Diver enjoys 40'+ visibility in Table Rock.
Photo courtesy Wes Johnson, Springfield Newsleader
I am a PADI certified Advanced Open Water Diver. My PADI card shows my certification date as August 11, 1986. Wow! How time flies! I remember completing my deep water certification dive at Table Rock dam going down to around 95 feet if my memory serves me correctly. Over the years, I have dived at many locations in Table Rock Lake and my daughters first experienced diving while we were on family camping trips on the bluffs at the Port of Kimberling looking towards the Kimberling City bridge. But in all my years of diving Table Rock Lake, I cannot remember seeing water this clear.
Diver finds a sunken sailboat.
Photo courtesy Wes Johnson, Springfield Newsleader
First, I need to make sure everyone understands, this extremely clear water is in the main body of the lake and near the dam. During a recent boat trip near Cape Fair, my wife and I found the water clarity to be its normal 3 foot range for that location. The higher nutrient concentrations in the arms of the lake allow for the greater algal growth.
Under water rock ledge.
Photo courtesy Wes Johnson, Springfield Newsleader
So everyone is asking why is the water so clear this year at the dam and I will try to answer as best I can. Over the last 10 to 15 years, the lake has responded to our efforts to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the lake, especially phosphorous. Reductions of phosphorous from various sources such as sewage treatment plants, failing septic systems, land disturbance, municipal lawns and large animal operations have taken place due to all our combined efforts. While water clarity varies somewhat each year, the trend line has shown our lake has been getting clearer.
A bass stays near the protection of a tree.
Photo courtesy Wes Johnson, Springfield Newsleader
But a unique set of circumstances this spring has made the lake unusually clear. Normally there is always a springtime clear-water phase. As the water begins to warm, algae begin to grow faster. To take advantage of the sudden increase in food, populations of small crustaceans (zooplankton) explode and eat much of the algae that would cause the water to be murky. Temperature has an effect on the timing of this clear water phase. In the case of Table Rock this year, the cool spring likely delayed fish spawning, so the zooplankton have had longer than usual to eat the algae thereby making the water clearer than normal. In addition, the drought we experienced last year prevented nutrients from washing or flushing into the lake denying the waterborne algae their food source and also reducing their numbers.
A diver enters the clear water.
Photo courtesy Wes Johnson, Springfield Newsleader
But don't expect this unusually clear water to last all summer. This clear-water phase will end as newly hatched fish graze the zooplankton numbers down and allow the algal community to rebound. So while the clarity will most likely not stay at 40 feet, I want to assure you we would not be seeing this phenomenon today if we had not started on our quest to reduce pollution many years ago. We could, in all honesty, be looking at a green slimy lake that no one would want to even touch if it were not for the efforts of our water quality groups and our regulatory agencies.
Water so clear it reminds divers of the tropical ocean.
Photo courtesy Wes Johnson, Springfield Newsleader
While improving water quality is a long-term effort and is notoriously difficult to measure, it is an event like this that makes me proud. Proud to be a part of the environmental community and proud to be closer to the "Vision" of Ozarks Water Watch: "WITH YOUR HELP WE WILL WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE BEAVER, TABLE ROCK, TANEYCOMO AND BULL SHOALS LAKES THE FOUR CLEANEST MANMADE LAKES IN NORTH AMERICA".
To see Wes Johnson's article and video on News-Leader.com,
Click: HERE.
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