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Aug. 27, 2002
By JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS
Staff writer
A set of metal jaws the size of a backpack descended into the murky water of Lake Macatawa until it dug into the soft
bottom.
The pulley motor moaned and the steel cable whirred, bringing the device back to the surface and onto the deck of
the 65-foot research vessel W.G. Jackson.
The boat and its crew played host Monday, along with the Macatawa Watershed Project, taking community leaders on a
cruise around the lake.
Members of the Policy Committee of the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council were on hand for the educational trip, which
began at the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club off South Shore Drive in Park Township.
"We're going to have a fun time, and we're going to learn a lot," welcomed Ted Bosgraaf, MACC chairman.
Bathed in sunshine and lulled by calm waters, cruise participants traveled the full length of the lake.
The MACC oversees the ongoing watershed project, an effort to reduce phosphorus and other pollutants in the Black
River, Lake Macatawa and its tributaries.
Dr. Graham Peaslee of Hope College served as narrator for much of the tour, offering participants a history of the
lake once called Black Lake, and the latest on-going water quality research.
Peaslee stressed that more than 90 percent of the phosphorus run-off entering the lake comes from sources other than
industrial -- it's coming from residential yards, commercial sites and farms.
The Holland area's steady growth has also played a key role in muddying the waters, Peaslee said. The area's construction
boom has resulted in steady excavation, often leading to erosion.
Peaslee said 85 percent of the phosphorus entering the lake comes attached to soil.
These remarks came as the boat passed Holland's Kollen Park, abuzz with construction activity and freshly turned soil
from one end to the other.
"Where do you think the dirt goes when it rains," Peaslee said, pointing toward Kollen Park.
The W.G. Jackson is one of two research and education vessels employed by the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute
of Grand Valley State University.
The boat's metal jaws brought up a pile of goo looking like gray pudding gone bad.
Deckhand John Gort used a hose to wash away the sediment, leaving behind leaves, weeds and more than 50 bright red
"bloodworms," the larvae of the midge fly.
The bloodworms are eaten by fish, water mites and insect larvae.
Using tweezers to pull the tiny bloodworms from the muck, Gort told onlookers that the little wigglers are "a
real nice link in the food chain."
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