December 2021

The Board has received reports from several members regarding beavers and corresponding damage. Before Thanksgiving, we trapped two beavers. After reports the week of 11/29 of additional beavers, we had the trapper back out to target Cove 8. The trapper recovered 1 beaver, 1 otter, and a raccoon. If you have concerns regarding beavers or other wildlife, please email indianlake@ilpoa.org or call the office.

The Board is discussing options for buoys after receiving feedback from Members. This includes pulling the cove buoys further out into the lake to help mark 100’ and potentially adding buoys in a few locations. We must balance safety in our main channel including hazards for skiers and tubers. We will communicate the board position and buoy locations at our April member’s meeting ahead of the 2022 lake season. 

In November the lake was lowered about 1’ below full pool as is standard procedure to ensure that any heavy rains and subsequent freezing will not damage the spillway during the winter. As the lake was already low due to our dry end of summer and fall, the result of the removal of the boards and the spillway valve was a drop of about 1 inch from where the lake level was. We will put the boards back in early March and with a good spring, rain expects to be back to full pool quickly.

Lake Restoration efforts are moving forward and regular updates have been posted to social media and the ILPOA website. All of our equipment is now in the lake and turned on, and we are on track to complete final baseline testing and our first enzyme treatment in Spring 2022. The Board recently held a call with DNR and MO Conservation along with our Lake Scientist Dr. Jennifer Jermalowicz-Jones to discuss our project and plans. We will continue to partner and share data with DNR and MO Conservation as we progress with the project. If you have any questions regarding this effort, please email IndianLake@ilpoa.org

Joe Mischik and Tom Orelup

Lake Dam and Spillway and Lake Restoration