Lake Tippecanoe and James Lake (Little Tippy) residents and lake users have signed a petition with 244 signatures that opposes proposed ecozones on the lakes.
The petition was gathered in September and October by the group Lake Tippecanoe Residents for Responsible Lake Policy.
The organization consists of six residents who live on Lake Tippecanoe and Little Tippy.The petition and a cover letter was mailed Oct. 13 to the Department of Natural Resources Commission Division of Hearings in Indianapolis.
The organization also plans to send the information to State Senators Bill Ruppel and Dave Wolkins, according to Bob Ragland, Lake Tippecanoe resident and former LTPO vice president.
The petition opposes the Lake Tippecanoe Property Owners Association's petition to the Department of Natural Resources to request two ecozones be established on Lake Tippecanoe and Little Tippy.
The proposed ecozones would create a 48-acre area prohibiting motorized boating activity on Lake Tippecanoe and Little Tippy.
The only access would be by row boats, canoes, paddle boats and boats using only electric trolling motors. There would be no anchoring allowed in the areas.
Ragland said he has talked to biologists who said variables need to be addressed such as farmland runoff, polluted tributaries, temperatures, the use of lawn fertilizer and water fowl defecation.
The LTPO held a meeting June 2 at the North Webster Community Center, attended by 200 lake users and residents. During the meeting, Williams Creek Consulting Inc. provided results from a feasibility study they conducted on the proposed ecozones.
Tippecanoe Property Owners Association used a grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to study whether ecozones effectively would address water quality.
Beth Neilson, project manager for Williams Creek Consulting Inc., said, during the meeting, the study found a decline in aquatic habitat in plants and animals and an overall decline in the water quality demonstrated by an increase in the blue-green algae blooms.
The petition by the Tippecanoe Residents for Responsible Lake Policy says, "LTPO has failed to provide any scientific data supporting their contention that high speed impact boating is the cause of the increase in mat forming algae and the reduction of aquatic vegetation along the Ball Wetlands shorelines."
The group's petition also says, "According to estimates by Williams Creek Consulting Inc., the state of Indiana will spend more than $180,000 in grant money on this project."
The letter states the creation of ecozones would reduce available recreational water by compacting the lake area that is small. This would cause a safety hazard by creating a dangerous choke point at the north end of Little Tippy.
Lake Tippecanoe Residents for Responsible Lake Policy requests further meetings between property owners and the DNR be conducted in the local area in midsummer 2008, when most residents would be available for comments.
