Why Island Lake officials are considering a new lake study
Island Lake officials may commission a study of sediment levels in the town's namesake body of water ahead of a possible dredging project.
The lake's water quality generally is poor, the Lake County Health Department's environmental services staff reported in a 2013 study.
Algae and an unattractive green plant called duckweed have been particular problems, and the lake doesn't have a diverse or healthy plant community, the report said.
Removing weeds and other unwanted material from the bottom could help make the lake healthier and more attractive, officials said.
If the lake is deeper, the water will be cooler, Trustee Will Ziegler said. And duckweed doesn't grow as well in cooler water.
Trustees are considering hiring a Kansas company called the Mapping Network to perform the study. The company estimates the job will cost $16,200.
The village board was scheduled to vote on the contract Thursday night, but trustees delayed the issue until Oct. 10.
The discussion was postponed, officials said, to give trustees more time to learn about the factors that contribute to water pollution, such as fertilizers containing phosphorus.
"We would like to understand all contributing factors before we make any decision," Ziegler said.
The village board outlawed the use of fertilizers containing phosphorus in 2017.
Island Lake formerly was a gravel pit. The site was dammed in the 1930s to make a lake. Mutton Creek enters the lake on its north side, and water from the lake feeds into the Fox River through a spillway and a marsh.
The roughly 85-acre lake has nearly 5 miles of shoreline. Its average depth is slightly more than 5 feet, and it's nearly 10 feet deep at its deepest point.
Much of the lakefront is privately owned, but the lake has five public beaches and a public boat launch.
The lake last was dredged in the late 1980s, Ziegler said.
Dredging could cost millions of dollars, so village officials would seek state or federal environmental grants to help pay for the project, if they go down that path.
Trustee Chuck Cermak said he'd rather see the board focus on the ecological problems on the lake's surface "than what's on the bottom."