Groups partner for boat cleaning stations at lake

(Above) The Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake, IDNR and City of Clear Lake contributed to this boat cleaning station at Tourist Park, just off South Shore Drive.-Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.

[caption id="attachment_56516" align="alignleft" width="236"] The first of two boat cleaning stations at Ventura was installed last week at Lynne Lorenzen Park. Next year there will be one at McIntosh Woods State Park.-Submitted photo.[/caption]

Boaters visiting Clear Lake via the Tourist Park Boat Ramp will see a new addition to the parking area. Thanks to cooperation between the Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the City of Clear Lake, a boat decontamination station is now available near the front of the parking area.

“This station will serve as a line of defense against aquatic invasive species moving into or out of Clear Lake,” explained CLEAR Project Coordinator Jim Sholly.

The new waterless cleaning station features several tools for boaters to utilize, including hand-held grabbing tools, squeegees, brush tools and a plug wrench. A wet/dry vacuum can be used to suck up any water remaining in the boat or bait buckets and a 90 psi blower tool is included to clean those hard-to-reach places. Instructions on the side of the station explain the use of each piece of equipment and a light tower will make sure that boaters returning after dark can easily clean, drain and dry their boat before leaving the lake.

The Iowa DNR provided $10,000 for the station through its Marine Fuel Tax Grant.  That funding was matched by the APCL; the City of Clear Lake covered remaining installation and upkeep costs.

Those using the Tourist Park lot where the cleaning station is located are reminded to be aware of parking restrictions.

Sholly said Clear Lake Police will be enforcing a no parking order in front of the station and along the travel routes in that parking lot to ensure boaters can al-

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ways access the station and easily navigate the parking lot back out to the road.  The lot is signed for boat trailer parking only.

A second boat cleaning station was installed at Lynne Lorenzen Park in Ventura last week.  That station was sponsored by the Iowa DNR’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program.

Sholly noted that the McIntosh Woods State Park boat ramp will be getting a station next year, thanks to an EPA Section 319 grant he wrote last winter. That station is supported by a partnership between DNR Parks, DNR Lakes Restoration and the CLEAR Project.

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