It turns out farm runoff accounts for 52 percent of the phosphorus running into the lake, Downing said. State environmental and health officials suggested goose dung might have caused the high bacteria levels that led to beach closings at Clear Lake a few years ago. State biologists, a local group and elected officials plan to discuss the ISU study over the next few months. Tom Eberle, one of the group's leaders, said residents seem to agree that something needs to be done to save their lake. We'll see how we're going to attack the situation.
People are pretty much on board that they want to do what they can help.
It's going to take years. We have a good lake providing a lot of recreation, but we can make it better. That's what we're striving for. The lake has such a central place in the consciousness of the community. It's great to see.