Jane Lieb, a member of both the Bluewater Garden Club and the East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corporation, spoke to the regular noon meeting of the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary on Wednesday, June 10.
 

Jane, also a Master Conservationist, spoke about two environmental projects happening right now in Dickinson County. An overview of each project is outlined below:

Rain Garden at Memorial Park in Spirit Lake - In an effort to combat storm water runoff into the lakes, Low-Impact Development projects control quality and quantity of runoff. (The first inch of rain during any rainfall is what carries the majority of pollution.) East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corp (EOLIC) worked with the city of Spirit Lake to find a site for a rain garden and settled on an area at the north end of Memorial Park at the end of 15th Street. Drain title, amended soil and plants are all part of the rain garden. Native plants with deep root systems were selected for the project completed last year. Currently, maintenance on the garden is ongoing, including replacing some plants that didn't survive the winter and mulching.

East Okoboji Beach Area LID Refit - Instead of a traditional storm sewer, the new Okoboji Beach roads are using LID practices. This is the first time in the State of Iowa that an existing development is being refitting using these practices (usually done in new developments). The refit includes 20 rain gardens and a bio-retention cell. Since this is a first project of this kind, the DNR is also doing a study to quantify results of the low-impact development. EOLIC is sponsoring the study which will include data from three summers - year one will be data without paving, year two will be data with paving and no LID, and year three will include data with paving and LID.

Membership in East Okoboji Lakes Improvement Corp is $20/year and open to anyone. Membership in the Bluewater Garden Club is $10/year. They meet the first Monday of the month at the Lutheran Lakeside Camp.