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CLEAR GRAND and the Grand Lake Watershed

Are you concerned about having clean water in Grand Lake or any of the streams that feed the reservoir?  Then, you should be aware that any pollutant that lies on any of the land in the map shown below can wash into the lakes and creeks when it rains.  We call this nonpoint source pollution because it washes off the entire landscape (rather than discharging from a point source like a factory).  Essentially, it is polluted stormwater.

CLEAR GRAND is a cooperative effort to keep the water clean in Grand Lake, the Grand Neosho River, and all the other lakes and streams that lie upstream of Grand Lake.  The key to clean water starts on the land surface where pollutants originate and wash into local streams and lakes.  Therefore, we need to be concerned about the entire watershed (the land area that drains to a common point) rather than just the streams and lakes themselves.  The CLEAR GRAND project is particularly challenging because the Grand Lake Watershed covers a large area (10,298 square miles) including parts of 4 states. 

CLEAR GRAND is lead by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission in cooperation with the US Environmental Protection Agency.  This project, focusing on the Grand Lake Watershed, is one of several Oklahoma priority watershed projects established through Section 319 of the US Clean Water Act. CLICK HERE to find out more about CLEAR GRAND and who is involved, including the Grand Lake Association.

PHASE 1 of the CLEAR GRAND project, in operation from 2005 - 2008, focused on the area near the shores of Grand Lake where the main pollution problems are related to urban practices like lawncare, parking lots, and human waste disposal.  Volunteer monitoring efforts were also expanded to better determine where the water is in great shape and where they face the greatest challenges.  Although this project is officially complete, many of the demonstration projects are still operating in the area around Grand Lake.

PHASE 2 of the CLEAR GRAND project, begun in 2006, is focusing on implementing healthy land management practices in both rural and urban areas of one small part, or subwatershed, of the Grand Lake Watershed that feeds directly into Grand Lake: Honey Creek. 

Later phases of the project will target subwatersheds other than Honey Creek for implementation of similar healthy land management practices.

Future Collaborations and Watershed Planning

Numerous efforts to preserve clean water are already taking place upstream of Grand Lake in the states around Oklahoma and new cooperative efforts involving all 4 states are in the planning stage.  A citizens' organization, Grand Lake O' the Cherokees Watershed Alliance Foundation, has formed to focus on water quality improvements for the entire Grand Lake Watershed. 

The Foundation, working with local citizens groups and state and federal agencies in the 4 watershed states, completed the first comprehensive watershed plan for the Grand Lake Watershed in late 2008.  The plan is available for download below.

THE GRAND LAKE WATERSHED PLAN:

(PC users:  Right-click on the link below and choose "Save Link Target As..." to save the file onto your computer.  Mac users:  Please hold down the mouse button over the link below to save the file.)

Grand Lake Watershed Plan 2008 (whole document (2 MB) - PDF)