- Lake users are reminded that with the deeper water now present in the dredged portions of the lake, and the recent variations in temperature, ice formation on the lake so far this winter has been unpredictable at best. Please use extreme caution attempting to access the lake, unless you are positive of safe ice conditions.
- Another feature of our current winter has been a number of ice events, which can make moving about safely a bit of a challenge. While the use of ice-melting salt on roadways driveways and sidewalks can help make conditions less slippery in certain conditions, it is important to note that this same salt can end up in our groundwater drinking water supply, as well as Wonder Lake and Nippersink Creek. De-icers are often applied under the “more is better” approach, which can have negative impacts. Information is provided below about salt impacts and proper deicer applications.
- On Saturday, February 22, the Nippersink Watershed Association will conduct yet another workday, clearing invasive brush from a portion of the Merchant Creek stream corridor. This volunteer work is being done to help minimize the significant amounts of sediment that this parcel has delivered to Wonder Lake over the past decades. Volunteer’s will meet at 8 am at the north end (dead end) of Edgewood Drive, just north of Wooded Shores Drive. Edgewood Drive is the first side street off Wooded Shores Drive coming west from East Wonder Lake Road. As always, volunteers are welcome, with various tasks available.
- The 35th Annual Illinois Lakes Management Association Conference will be held in Champaign from March 12 – 14, 2020. This is a great opportunity for WL folks to learn more about a wide variety of lake topics. For more details: https://ilma-lakes.org/conference-registration.
Sensible Salting
Winter weather is a reminder to think about the way road salt interacts with our environment. Each winter, the Chicago region uses more than 270,000 tons of road salt to control ice on roads, parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks.
As our Wonder Lake community is entirely reliant on groundwater for our drinking water supply, the MPOA is urging municipalities, private contractors, and homeowners to reduce use of road salt to reduce the contamination entering our lake, creeks, and groundwater resources. Using excess salt pollutes our drinking water and damages infrastructure. Once you put salt down, it doesn’t go away. Instead, it travels into waterways, putting aquatic life at risk, and endangers our groundwater resources.
http://mcdef.org/wp-content/uploads/Defenders-Road-Salt-Article-2018-11…