Tourists, visitors, and locals using Table Rock Lake for recreation will be enjoying a cleaner shore line thanks to the recent efforts of hundreds of volunteers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Table Rock Water Quality Inc. (TRLWQ). TRLWQ is a not for profit corporation whose main mission is maintaining and improving the quality of the ground and surface waters of the Table Rock Lake watershed. On April 4, TRLWQ coordinated the Annual Table Rock shoreline cleanup which resulted in the removal of over 14 tons of trash from the lakes shoreline.
David Casaletto, Executive of TRLWQ, had said the 2009 cleanup was named the “Table Rock Marina Association Shoreline Cleanup,” after its major funding sponsor. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Table Rock Lake was a significant contributor in the cleanup effort including the supplying trash bags, dumpsters for the trash collected and other major support for the hundreds of volunteers participating in the cleanup effort.
According to a statement on its web site, www.trlwq.org, 2008’s annual shoreline cleanup was limited because of the record high water levels. Even though lake levels were back down near normal levels the 2008 levels impacted on the cleanup because a lot of the trash had to be dislodged from the trees and brush it was deposited in while the lake level was much higher.
The shoreline trash comes from quite an area. Table Rock Lake itself has over 1,000 miles of shore line and tens of thousands of acres immediately adjacent to it that are used for recreational activities such as fishing, hunting, camping, boating, swimming, biking, and hiking. A lot of the improperly disposed of trash from those activities ends up in Table Rock Lake and eventually on its shoreline. Gopala Borchelt, TRLWQ, pointed out that the 14 tons of trash picked up underscores how important and necessary the shoreline cleanup work is.
Volunteers picked up more than 1,000 bags of trash. TRLWQ reports on the type of items picked up indicate the extent to which people indiscriminately use the lake to dispose of trash in a careless manner. The cleanup picked up everything from an almost of full truck load of beer bottles at one public use area alone, to bug zappers, propane tanks, TVs, small freezers, and 55 gallon drums
Borchelt expressed the organizations thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors for their efforts.
