TEXAS TOWNSHIP (WKZO AM/FM) — The Department of Environmental quality has approved a plan to bail out Texas Township, but it will take longer to get it started and longer to lower the water levels in Eagle and Crooked Lakes because of conditions set by the State Agency.
The DEQ is requiring a filter that will screen out zebra mussel larvae, which Superintendent Julie VanderWeire says is only made in Israel and is quite costly. It won’t ready until late May.
The DEQ has also reduced the amount they will be allowed to pump. That means it will take longer to bring down the lake levels.
They are also requiring infrastructure improvements downstream to improve flow rates, landscape changes to prevent erosion and constant monitoring. Problems anywhere along the way could bring a halt to the pumping.
The goal isn’t just to lower the lake levels, but to lower the water table for a large section of the Township. The high water has already ruined some homes and is threatening as many as 400 others.
At one point, homeowners on Bass Lake were threatening to challenge the permit in court if it was granted as submitted. It’s not known if the changes made by the DEQ have satisfied their concerns.
