A volunteer organization, directed towards maintaining and improving the waters of Harwood Lake and its watershed for all to enjoy
We have some great news for our HLA Members. Nelsons Herbs is offering a 10% Discount to all payed to date Harwood Lake Association Members. This offer will begin on the 1st of August and run through 12/31/2022.
About Us
https://www.facebook.com/nelsonsherbs/
I asked Cass County Drain Commissioner Jeff VanBelle for a update and the following is his reply,
A Video inspection of the pipe coming out of Corey Lake showed it is in good condition. I spoke with Jeff Wenzel from St Joe County, and we agreed it would NOT need replaced. This will be a cost savings.
A couple easements were needed. They have been prepared and I believe signed by the property owner.
That’s all I know for now. I will see the St Joe County Drain Commissioner on May 6th and will discuss.
Jeff VanBelle
Please remember to check out Harwoodlake.org for Updates , Stories from around the lake and Lake info. We have some Great new stories recently added to Our “Shoreline & Habitat Restoration” &” Around the Lake” Tabs.
I am updating some Data on the Webpage and this Post/Email is a result of that.
Im hoping I have our Web Page Email Notifications fixed. If your reading this it was successfully done 🙂
Have a pleasant day
Jim
I have sent an email to the members of the “Harwood Lake Association” to thank everyone for their support – we had an impending threat to our lake and we needed to come together. By forming the Lake Association we had the ability to get and share information about the Intercounty Drain meetings and plans. The primary mission of the Association is the preservation of Harwood Lake and we would like the Association to continue into the future but we can only do that with your continued support.I would like to invite all Harwood Lake riparians to join and support the Association – if you have not already joined. You can support the Association in many ways – if you would like to be on the board – this is the time to submit your name – this is an election year, more news about that can be found on our web page “www.harwoodlake.org” or on Facebook “Harwood Lake Official”. You can support the Association with your involvement – submit a story, information or pictures to share on the web page or Facebook. And you can support the Association with your dues and donations – we started it late in 2019 so dues paid then covered 2019 and 2020. Dues are 25.00 annually and have been used to register our Association, start our web page, print the Newsletter, become part of a larger Michigan Lakes & Streams Association, and may be used to cover expenses of training and materials used in the expanded testing and analysis of Harwood Lake water quality. We had 55 households that had paid and donated during the “first-year” 2019 & 2020 – so far we have 29 who have paid for this year 2021 – and again I thank you for your support. If you haven’t paid for 2021 please send your check in when you can – to:
Harwood Lake Association PO Box 111 Jones MI 49061.
Thank you,
Broc Watkins ; Treasure
If you’re interested in Learning how to Monitor Lake & River Water Quality this is a great opportunity. Visit micorps.net for information about the program, to sign up for updates, and register for the training day on Thursday, April 29th from 9am to 4:30pm. This is a Free Program !
On Tuesday 11/10/2020 Diane L., Howard H. & Jim K. represented Harwood Lake during a virtual meeting with the Drain Commissioners from Both Cass & St.Joseph County’s along with the Lawyer & Engineers that have been contracted to do this Project.
Due to many factors Proposal No.4 which includes a gravity drain being installed on Long Lake has been ruled out which is great news for us ! Proposal 3 which includes Long Lake to Continue to pump their water to Clear Lake and repairing the current drainage from Clear Lake to Mud / Kaiser and the Peterson Drain was proposed and voted on and approved by the Commissioners.
To sum things up basically the Water flow and course will remain the same with improved / updated drainage. This is Harwood Lakes best case scenario as we will have no Environmental impact.
Jim K.
For the Sake of the Lake – Thank you, Gary!
HLA member Gary Brundige recently observed fishermen pulling their boats from Corey Lake and immediately launching their boats into Harwood Lake not complying with the Michigan Boating Law to prevent the spread of invasive species. (See Michigan Boating Laws excerpt and link below.)
True to Harwood Lake Association Mission to preserve, protect and promote the aquatic environment of Harwood Lake, Gary informed fisherman of new law and compliance requirements. Thank you for your lake stewardship and leadership, Gary!
What to do if you observe Michigan Boating Law violations:
Much of the education and enforcement of Michigan’s boating laws are dependent on its citizen’s. Here’s what to do if you observe a boating violation:
Hello Harwood Lakers ,
I’m happy to tell you that the Harwood lake Association along with Cass County Conservation District & Sw x Sw Cisma will be hosting 2 Landing Blitz’s in coordination with EGLE. These 2 event’s are to educate boaters coming into our lake on invasive species and how they can help prevent the spread into our lake as well as others.
These events are Scheduled for 6/27/20 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm & 7/4/20 from 9:00am – 12:00 pm
Please come and visit us and take part in protecting our natural resources.
So what is all of the excitement about? Follow the link to: harwoodlake.org and you will see!
Harwood Lake Association website is live! This is not just any website – this is your website!! It is intended to be about you and our lake. It is designed to be informative, efficient, and dynamic!
We look forward to continuing to grow harwoodlake.org as we grow the Harwood Lake Association for our community and “for the sake of the lake”.
Here we GROW!!
Harwood Lake Association
Summary of conversations with Bruce Campbell, Cass County Drain Commissioner, and Jeff Wentzel, St Joseph County Drain Commissioner May 1, 2020.
Commissioners stated drain options under consideration: as single project or collective combination, yet to be determined:
Exact cost to property owners, yet to be determined. Factors that will influence individual property owners’ cost include but are not limited to, amount due from government entities; individual property location, size, and benefit.
Next Meeting: Commissioners are hopeful for a face-to-face meeting in the near future after Covid-19 restrictions lifted, as a Zoom meeting does not appear feasible. They encouraged continued participation at meetings. Bruce Campbell stated he would keep HLA apprised of meeting schedule.
An appeal challenging the necessity to revise the current drainage district boundaries was filed by Roberts Campground in the St. Joseph County Circuit Court against the Corey Lake Intercounty Drainage Board on 12.16.2019. The appeal halted the next steps in the process of drainage boundary changes and drain project review. The appeal was dismissed by Roberts Campground 3.16.2020.
Happy Spring Harwood Lakers,
I hope everyone enjoyed their Winter!
A few updates from around the lake that took place while lake life was dormant during the cold dreary days of winter.
Inter-county Drain Commission Update
The Project continues to be on hold due to the Appeal submitted by Roberts Camp Ground to the St Joseph County Circuit Court.
Neighborhood Watch
I am happy to announce that Harwood Lake now has a Neighborhood Watch Program in place which is being headed up by Garrett Glodek. This is in coordination with the Cass County Sheriff Department who provided us with 4 signs free of charge and some informational data.
Lake Monitoring,
Unfortunately, Micorps/MLSA lost their funding for this program due to a gap in Grant Monies. What this means for us is that there will be no State funded Support or Data Keeping for the year. Also, no Training Programs Through MLSA / Micorps.
However, I have been notified that we can continue to monitor our water clarity (Secchi Disc testing) and also monitor for Invasive Species and do a Shoreline Assessment. We will need to save the Data and add it in next year so there is no gap in our data collection. We will not be able to do the Phosphorus Testing this year.
Recreation Passport,
The Law regarding the Recreation Passport that was to begin enforcement this year has now been put on hold due to COVID 19. This means for the time being there will be no penalty for not having the Passport required to use DNR boat ramps. This may change during the course of the summer. I will update if I see this change abruptly.
In Closing,
I look forward to seeing all the happy faces on the lake this Summer. Let’s work together in making this Summer on the Lake safe and memorable.
Happy Spring, Jim
Harwood Lake has a great start to tracking its water quality thanks to Jim Kings. Jim attended (self-funded) the Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorp)-Michigan Lake Stewardship Association 2-day training / certification programs for water quality testing plus registered Harwood Lake for statewide monitoring. 2019 – Included water clarity/transparency and phosphorous level testing conducted by Jim 2020 – Expanded testing and analysis of Harwood Lake water quality and supporting environment planned for 2020. Spe- cific testing – and need for volunteers – will be announced when warm weather returns! Water Clarity -Secchi Disc Testing: September 20th, the Summer testing came to an end. Jim Kings conducted and submitted for public record, 19 Secchi Disc tests. The year started with 9′ of clarity/transparency and finished with 15′ clarity – weekly results follows. The average depth was 11.5 feet (3.5 m) for the 2019 summer which puts Harwood Lake into the Oligotrophic range – Trophic State Index (TSI) provided after Secchi Disc Results. Phosphorous Level – Jim submitted water sample to DNR in Plainwell MI for Michigan Lake Stewardship Association (MLSA) to analyze; results pending ….. will keep you updated. As just a FYI: What is phosphorous and why test? Phosphorous is essential for plant life. It is also a constituent of agricultural fertilizers, manure and organic matter from sewers/ septics. A sign of excess phosphorus in a lake is excess algae in lake, as experienced by Driskell Lake in Jones MI. Testing phosphorous levels help us to be proactive and avert such negative consequences.
Hello Harwood Lake Association Members!Thank you for your continuing support and participation in the Harwood Lake Association, and a special thank you to those who were able to attend the Annual Meeting education sessions, elections, and Ice Cream Social! Great to see you!Now, so many other ‘thank you’s’ to extend along with a summary of the meeting highlights for those unable to attend.Thank you to our expert presenters:*Alex Florian, CISMA invasive species coordinator, provided valuable information about invasive species, plus, unfortunately, identified a new invasive plant in our lake!! – more to follow. For questions about what’s invasive and what’s not, and what to do if true, contact Alex at: invasivesed@vanburencd.org Work: 269.657.4030 x 5*Pat Boyle, Cass County SESC inspector, outlined the long term negative impact of erosion/sediment and how to avoid this from happening. He urged the need to change from an urban (HOA) lawn to a natural shoreland to protect the lake. Before starting any project that disturbs the soil or citing of erosion, contact Pat. pat@cassccdistrict.org Cell: 269.845.9954 POP QUIZ from the meeting presentations:
*Jim Kings, HLA president, reported on Harwood water clarity- how clear or cloudy. NOTE: All readings are taken in the deepest part of the lake, same time of day, on Friday – before increased weekend boat traffic. Over the course of the summer, our lake clarity has declined from 22 feet in May to 8 feet in July. Jim has reached out to MLSA for possible causes. Jim, a special thanks for your diligence and all you do for Harwood Lake and Association!
*Broc Watkins, HLA treasurer, presented the Y-T-D numbers and noted a positive balance. . Membership dues remain at $25 per calendar year. While membership is down from last year, approximately 60% of Harwood Lake riparians are members. Broc, thank you for diligence and keeping HLA fiscally healthy!
Other Events – ElectionsThe HLA officers and board members extend gratitude for the opportunity to serve you and support the Harwood Lake Association. The current officers and board will remain in place with one exceptionTreasurer: Broc Watkins resigned. A new treasurer was elected: Scott Morris.
As earlier stated, MANY THANKS TO MANY.. and apologies for any unintentional oversight of anyone deserving but not mentioned.
Have a great summer and continue to make a positive difference for the Harwood Lake environment!!
Your HLA Board and Officers