Uncategorized

Invasive plant treatments are scheduled for this coming Thursday and Friday (June 12 and 13). The three areas to be treated are 1) the channel just North of the Country Club 2) by Gull Lake Ministries and 3) on the west shore near 'Mosquito Island'.A map of the treatment areas can be found here.continue reading →

Our Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 10th, starting at 6:30PM in the KBS Academic Building's Terrace Room. Guest speaker will be Cliff Bloom, a West Michigan attorney who specializes in Riparian Issues. He writes a regular column for The Riparian (MLSA publication) and will be speaking about Riparians and the Law. RSVPs encouraged by Thursday, June 4 at this link.continue reading →

Paul Hausler and Carrie Rivette from Progressive Companies attended the April GLQO Board Meeting, and shared quite a bit of interesting information around stormwater runoff and lakes. The slides from their presentation can be found here.continue reading →

Progressive Enterprises, which has been assisting the GLQO in invasive plant species control for several years now, released their report on their 2024 activities in Gull Lake. You can read all about it here.continue reading →

There have been some developments in Ross Township since our update at the GLQO Annual Meeting in June. A small subset of the monitoring wells in Ross Township were retested over the summer The well in Gull Vista (with previous high readings likely not due to the Plastics Plant) has shown a decrease in PFAs levels since previous testing Wells south of M89 (DE Ave between 35th St. and 37th St.) and on Greer show an increase in PFAs - these are in the expected path of the main Plastics Plant plume) Surface…continue reading →

A highlight of the 2024 GLQO Annual Meeting was a presentation by Erica Bays, from Michigan Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy on the work they are doing to monitor PFAS levels around Gull Lake. She provided a number of very detailed maps and charts that demonstrated where PFAS levels are above detection limits in and around the area to the south and east of Gull Lake; most of this associated with contamination from the plastics plant.  The source of PFAS contamination in the Idlewild neighborhood is not clear but given the…continue reading →

Some folks have recently been asking about any rules/laws/ordinances around excessive noise on our lakes. Ross Township Supervisor Christina Hutchings recently shared with the GLQO the updated Ross Township Anti-Noise Ordinance, which was updated and put into effect last month. Of particular note: With respect to on-the-water activities Section II(B) mentions (note: these are paraphrased - see the Ordinance itself for the complete list and exact wording): In general: "...unreasonable or unnecessarily loud noise or disturbance, injurious ot the health, peace or quiet of hte residents and property owners of the Township. Playing…continue reading →

The Gull Lake Quality Organization (GLQO) is thrilled to announce our upcoming "Natural Shoreline Workshop," a Lunch & Learn event scheduled for July 11, 2024. This workshop, prompted by popular demand from our members, aims to delve deeper into shoreline landscaping options—building on the knowledge shared by our speakers at the 2023 and 2022 Fall Fling events. The workshop will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kellogg Biological Station's Carriage House. This comprehensive program is designed for lakefront property owners who are interested in enhancing their shoreline while preserving…continue reading →

On 10 April, the Federal Government, for the first time, set limits on PFAS for drinking water: - 4 parts per trillion for PFAS and PFOS - 10 parts per trillion for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA These limits apply to public drinking water systems, and will be phased in, with monitoring capabilities to be put in place by 2027, and compliance being required by 2029. Key points to note: - Private water sources, such as private wells, are not required to meet these standards - While these limits are stricter than the State…continue reading →

A reminder! If you renew or join the GLQO for 2024 by the end of this month (February), you can receive a discounted subscription to the Michigan Riparian ($14 vs. $25 for regular membership). Hurry, only 13 days left!!The membership renewal form can be found here, and you can also join online here. Dues and donations from GLQO members help us continue our work to protect the waters of Gull Lake and the surrounding watershed .. Keeping it Clean is our motto!continue reading →