Mountain Island Lake Covekeepers
Welcome to our webpage.
• Next meeting - Monday, June 11th at 7 PM
News and Information from Mountain Island Lake Covekeepers....
• Inside a Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Riverkeeper Wins Service Award
On December 7th, 2011 Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman was presented the MIL Marine Commission Blue Fin Award in recognition of his positive efforts that benefit Mountain Island Lake and its visitors. Marine Commission Chairwoman Cathy Roche presented the annual award at the last Marine Commission meeting of 2011. More about David and the award can be seen here. In the past, MIL Lakekeepers and Covekeepers have also received the award for their service at Mountain Island Lake.
A Message from the Mountain Island Lake Lakekeeper
Information about Mountain Island Lake
• We Came, We Cleaned, We Took Out the Trash
• Duke Energy Reaffirms Riverbend Closing
In a June statement to the Mountain Island Lake Marine Commission and the Mountain Island Lake Stakeholders Group, Duke Energy has said that it has "accelerated" plans to close the aging Riverbend Steam Station on our lake. The fate of the two coal ash ponds adjacent to the lake is less clear but according to Duke "would follow a prescribed process with state oversight and approval." The entire statement can be read here.
• Advisory Issued for Mountain Island Lake Fish
• Lakekeeper Alice Battle Featured in News 14 Story
• Riverkeeper Foundation Testimony at EPA Coal Ash Hearing
Mountain Island Lake Lakekeeper Alice Battle, along with Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman and CRF Executive Director Rick Gaskins gave testimony at the September 14th, 2010 EPA Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System Hearing on new proposed coal ash rules. This is an especially important issue for our lake since the Duke Energy Riverbend Steam Generating Station on Mountain Island Lake creates hundreds of tons of coal ash every year. Stored on-site in coal ash ponds it is eventually disposed of in landfills or is recycled in the production of other products such as concrete or wall board. The two coal ash ponds at the Riverbend Steam Station are on the EPA’s “List of 44 High Hazard Potential Units".
In testimony, Lakekeeper Battle told the EPA, "The measurement of safe levels of heavy metals in the water currently used are more the result of politics than of scientific study. Years of abuse of the nation's rivers and streams have produced measurable amounts of contaminants in most of the lakes in the United States. Monitoring cannot be left to the goodwill of companies whose motivation is money, not the welfare of future generations."
A 2010 sampling of our lake water, bottom sediment and fish has shown that the Duke Energy coal ash ponds are polluting our lake. See the results of the Riverkeeper's tests by clicking here.
• Riverkeeper Looks for Contamination on Mtn. Island Lake
On a spring day last year, Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman and volunteers set out to obtain test samples on Mtn.
Island Lake in a search for heavy metal contamination in our lake and the fish
that live there. Find out more about these important tests on the water we drink by clicking here. The results of the testing can be found here.
• Mountain Island Lake Classified as Impaired - NC Division of Water Quality's draft 2010 Impaired Waterbodies List includes a large portion of Mountain Island Lake, the main drinking water supply for the Cities of Charlotte, Gastonia and Mount Holly. Read the Charlotte Observer's story by clicking here.
• Coal Ash Pond Issue - While our lake is home to beautiful sunsets, summer days of fun on the water and wildlife of all kinds, it is also the site of two of the EPA's High Hazard Coal Ash Impoundments which also happen to be just upstream from the primary water intakes for the cities of Charlotte, Gastonia, Mt. Holly and Belmont. Read more about this threat to our lake here and here and here.
• Muddy Water Blues - Want to take a guess at the number one threat to our lake? Us! That's right, it's not an invasive species, pollution from the factories located in the communities up and down the Catawba River or running out of water due to drought, though that could happen. No, it's our ever increasing use of and encroachment on our lake and the land around it. Read more about this important issue here.
• Mountain Island Lake Covekeepers at 2010 Big Sweep Event
• Covekeepers Duck Cove Survey - Surveying our lake
• What Lives in Our Lake, Besides the Fish, Turtles, Snakes, Clams....
• Is Anybody Home? - Bird houses surveyed
• Attractive to Fish?! - Fish Attractors deployed in our lake
• Just One More Lap - Covekeepers help at lake swim competition
• How You Can Help Our Lake
Pick up the Poop - If you're still reading then here's the deal: you kind of agreed to do this when you got your dog, just like you agreed to feed, take care of and get her shots. YES, it's disgusting; NO, no one really wants to do it and YES, your mother told you not to ever touch it. But, it needs to be picked up because otherwise it can end up in our lake where someone ends up swimming in it.
Keep Grass Clippings & Yard Waste Out of the Gutters and Storm Drains - Just like the poop it all eventually ends up in the lake, unless we make a conscious effort to keep it out. Please rake it, blow it and/or compost it, but try to keep it out of our water. Remember that the storm drains all eventually go to the lake and the Catawba River.
Respect the Buffer - The strip of land next to the lake and its creeks is called a buffer zone. We need to protect it and what lives in it. It's the law and it's also just good practice to leave it alone. Don't cut the trees there or kill the plants or build there or burn there, at least not without permission from the many regulatory agencies who have a say in what happens in the buffer. Just let it do what it does best, protect the lake. In some places, like Mecklenburg County the buffer is the first 100 feet of land after the high water mark, in other places it's the first 50 feet and some home owner associations even have their own rules.
If you have any questions send us an email or contact the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources - 704 663-1699
Search our website - Looking for something you didn't find?
Go to the Catawba Riverkeeper Home Page by clicking here
Document Actions
- Fish Advisories
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Fish advisories have been issued throughout the Catawba-Wateree River basin for various types of fish. Many of these fish advisories are the result of testing initiated by Catawba Riverkeeper and confirmed by state and local officials. For a chart identifying fish types with the applicable adisories for the Charlotte area, click here. For more information about the fish advisories, click here.
- Help Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation
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Your River needs you as much as you need the River
