The cleanliness of Lake Wedowee water is consistently monitored by the LWPOA Water Quality committee to make sure your lake water is safe for full body contact sports like swimming and skiing, and for fish and fishing. The volunteers of the Water Quality committee test the water in Lake Wedowee and its tributaries, providing an invaluable service not only to association members but to the larger community of water users in our region and all our downstream neighbors. If you see a potential water quality problem, or have a question about test results or data, please get in touch with the water quality chairman (see contact information on the "Our Mission" page).
The committee has about a dozen water monitors around the lake who take monthly samples and test for chemical indicators of healthy water such as pH, dissolved oxygen, mineral content and alkalinity. Several of these volunteers also test for E. Coli bacteria that can wash into the lake. The test results, which have been collected and entered in the Auburn University Alabama Water Watch (AWW) database for many years, provide a historical record of the water that can be used to detect changes in water quality or trends water users should be aware of. The data for Lake Wedowee and almost every other lake, river and stream in Alabama are available at the AWW website.
The committee also interacts with state and local governments and non-governmental agencies that have common interests in protecting water quality. These include Alabama Department of Public Health, Alabama Department of Environmental Management, The Alabama Clean Water Partnership and Upper Tallapoosa Clean Water Partnership, AWW, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. We monitor changes in state policy, regulation and law that could affect the lake, such as the prioritization of water uses by the Governor's Alabama Water Agencies Work Group, tasked to formulate statewide water policy to (among other things) outline Alabama's position in potential interstate water disputes. The committee also monitors proposed changes to the Operations Manual of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers which impacts water flow in the River Basin.
The committee also tracks the Tallapoosa and Little Tallapoosa rivers and tributaries in Alabama and Georgia, paying particular attention to changes in agricultural, industrial and municipal water uses. While the LWPOA acknowledges that everyone has a right to the water, with that right comes responsibilities to other water users. If a significant change occurs in any waterways that feed Lake Wedowee, the years of testing data give us a starting point to compare and see what, if any, negative impacts that change might have on the lake.
The committee, through its involvement in the Clean Water Partnership and Water Watch, provides educational programs to local school children on the importance of clean water and what every person can do to keep our water clean.
Tallapoosa River Basin Water Issues and News
LWPOA Water Quality Programs
Water Quality Update
You can find lots of information about the state's waterways and efforts to protect them using the following links:
Lake Wedowee Property Owners' Association.
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