Thanks to all who attended our quarterly meeting in January. Your attendance, comments and questions went a long way toward demonstrating your concerns and interest in our efforts and success to both County Administrators and Supervisor Falwell from Campbell County. We will be making our funding requests of the 3 counties during February and March. We're scheduled now for February 12th or 15th (alt.) in Bedford and the 20th in Campbell. I haven't heard anything yet from Pittsylvania but will send out e-mail when it is confirmed.

Your support for our requests is critical to get the counties to commit to helping us in this current year. We are appealing for funds that would be available after July 1st. Anything you can do including appearing at our presentations will be helpful. Personal contacts during the budget preparation time, i.e. now through April will be very important. But don't wait too long in the cycle.

We are requesting funds to help with debris removal, installation of low water hazard markers and water quality testing and a brochure/map. Of primary importance is for the counties to begin putting us in the budget annually from now on.

At the end of 2006 we had 295 members with an outstanding 92% renewal rate. Encourage your friends and neighbors to join. We need everyone's support for the lake to flourish.

Presently there is more income than expense, but that may change as we enter the operational, or work, time of the year. All submitted bills have been paid and all income has been deposited. In regard to our promotional items, the 2007 calendars have been moving well with only a few remaining. Thank you so very much Julie Moore for putting together the calendar.

First I want to recap a few things discussed at out most recent general membership meeting. Sherwood Zimmerman will be heading up the Beautification Day again in 2007. (Information and a registration form can be found later in this newsletter.) After heavy July storms a PowerPoint presentation was shown to the local governments. Campbell County was the only locality to offer to help with that cleanup. They gave $5,000. AEP was scheduled to give us the skimmer for 19 days but we only had it for 2. In lieu of the skimmer, we have asked AEP to give the Association cash that we can use for cleanup efforts organized by the Association. As of yet there has been no answer from AEP.

Our 2007 objectives are to press AEP for the funds to cover the activities not fulfilled by the skimmer in 2006, organize and promote our annual cleanup day May 19th, encourage property owners to pick up debris on their own shores on a regular basis, and to request county funds to help with 80 hour cleanups in both the spring and fall. We will also be asking for an amount to help with future emergencies.

There are times when some sections of Leesville Lake exceed one or more of the state water quality standards. Some of the exceedances are a result of the natural aging process in the reservoir and others are a result of human activity.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) monitors Leesville Lake water quality. However, water quality monitoring by DEQ is on a three-year rotation. The current rotation ended in 2006, so DEQ will not monitor Leesville Lake water quality again until 2010. In addition, there are too few DEQ monitoring stations to get an adequate understanding of bacteria levels in the lake. Therefore, the Leesville Lake Association (LVLA) plans to initiate a Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Project in 2007.

The goals of the project are to:

• Obtain a better understanding of Leesville Lake water quality.
• Supplement the DEQ water quality monitoring.
• Raise the awareness of the importance of water quality.

During 2007, the following water quality parameters will be monitored: Secchi Depth (a measure of water clarity), temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, bacteria, and conductivity (a measure of dissolved solids or minerals). DEQ will loan the Association a water quality probe and provided test kits for bacteria monitoring. Water testing will be done at seven monitoring stations on a biweekly basis from May 15th through September 15th. Additional testing will be done when the water is muddy after rainstorms.

If you would like more information or would like to volunteer to help with water quality monitoring, please contact Mike Lobue at (434) 369-8044.

The Navigation Committee's goal for 2007 is to identify hazards on Leesville Lake. In particular this project will include identifying the types of hazards, locating these hazards, designing a cost effective method for marking the hazards, and installing the markers. The progress for this project will be dependent on funding and help from our friends that use and are knowledgeable of Leesville Lake. With our lake fluctuating at various levels throughout the week it will be difficult to identify all hazards. Help to locate these hazards is requested from boaters and individuals that use the lake and through their experience have knowledge of these dangers. The committee requests that information be given by attending the Quarterly Meetings or sending an email to petepettit@aol.com with the word "HAZARD" in the subject line. Funding to offset the cost will be requested from various sources including the counties that border Leesville Lake, Tri-County Lake Administrative Commission (TLAC), and State and Federal Governments.

Of interest to Leesville Lake, it was reported at the January TLAC meeting that the navigation system on Smith Mountain Lake is not in compliance with the USCG requirements. Since a navigation system is not required on SML, the current system is considered a "private" navigation system. TLAC authorized their Navigation Committee to bring their navigation system into compliance with USCG requirements. The USCG will work with TLAC over the next six years to upgrade their system. Upon approval of the upgraded system, SML will be considered "state waters". This development may have an affect on Leesville Lake in the future.

Members are reminded that business card size ads can be put in the newsletter for $50 a year (4 issues).

Anyone who has an article of interest to the general lake population is welcome to submit it for review and publication.

Volunteerism is the backbone of the Leesville Lake Association. Without member volunteers, all the things the association does would come to a grinding halt. All the things you read about in the newsletter and more are happening because of people who volunteer. Look no further. The opportunity to make Leesville Lake a better community for you and your family is right before you. Please review the list of jobs that need filling and consider which job might be right for you or for a group of your Leesville Lake friends and family.

At this time the association needs people to serve on the Board of Directors, produce the newsletter, and take water samples. An up to date list will be kept on the website at http://leesvillelake.org/Volunteer.htm.

Newsletter: Contact Julie Moore, (434) 369-6630, lakedoughbegone@msn.com Needed now: Editing-Compile articles and prepare layout Printing-On LVL color laser printer Assembling and preparing for bulk mail

Board of Directors: Contact Stan Goldsmith, (434) 369-5181, sgoldleesville@aol.com Needed now: Volunteer to fill vacancy left by board member who had to resign. With the longest portion of shoreline we particularly need volunteers from Pittsylvania County now and for summer elections.

Citizens Water Quality Monitoring: Contact Mike Lobue (434) 369-8044, malobue@gmail.com After training, these volunteers would take water samples from their own boat and make instrument readings

Volunteers and Members of the Lake Association are improving the value of the lake and their own property.

Saturday, March 24, 2007
Woodland/Shade/Natural Gardening
How to enhance landscape elements to approximate the natural conditions in our forests, and well adapted ornamental plants to use.

Saturday, March 31, 2007
Snakes-What You Should Know as a Gardener
Identification, habitat, life cycles, snakes you may encounter in your garden, what to do if you get bitten, and snakes as pets

Both of the above $10 at door. Call (540) 586-7675 to register. Location: Central Virginia Community College at the Bedford Center for Business, 1633 Venture Blvd, Bedford, VA 24523

Saturday April 14, 2007
Summer Drought Gardening & Construct a Rain Barrel Workshop
How to make a rain barrel for water conservation. You will have a finished product to take home with you at the conclusion of the workshop. Limited to 25 people. Location to be determined.

Saturday, April 21, 2007
How to Make & Plant a Hypertufa Pot Workshop
Students will make and take their own Hypertufa container home. Bring a 5-gallon bucket and an apron or shirt to protect your clothes. All other materials are included. Hypertufa are the English style pots/troughs that have become very popular in the last few years and covered in a Southern Living article in 2006. Limited to 25 people. Location Central Virginia Community College at the Bedford Center for Business, 1633 Venture Blvd, Bedford, VA 24523

The workshops are $25 each. To register please send payment to Bedford Area Master Gardeners, Virginia Cooperative Extension, 122 E. Main St., Ste. 102, Bedford, VA 24523. Please include your name, address, phone and title of workshop in the envelope.

What is Aquatic Nuisance Vegetation?

They are aquatic plants that do not occur naturally in a body of water. They are also known as exotic or non-indigenous plants. Some nuisance aquatic plants are invasive and exhibit rapid growth, maturity and spread rapidly.

How could aquatic nuisance vegetation harm Leesville Lake?

• Damage boat engines and jam steering equipment.
• Make areas unusable by boaters and swimmers.
• Displace the native plant species and disrupt the ecosystem processes.

Has any aquatic nuisance vegetation been found in Leesville Lake?

In 2006, the entire shoreline of Leesville Lake was mapped and observed for vegetation as part of the AEP relicensing studies. Minimal amounts of free-floating, dead or dying curly leaf pondweed clumps were seen at the upper end of the lake. Random points around these areas were sampled with a throw rake, but no live submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) was found. No other evidence of SAV was found.

Curly Leaf Pondweed (Invasive)

Brazilian Elodea (invasive) and Brittle Naiad (Nuisance) have been found on Smith Mountain Lake

Brazilian Elodea		Brittle Naiad

Non-native aquatic vegetation is generally introduced into water bodies by people, generally by accident. Most often, boats and personal watercraft carry vegetation from one body of water to another. Also, people sometimes put plants (often non-native) from aquariums into lakes.

How can we prevent aquatic nuisance vegetation from being introduced into Leesville Lake?

• Clean and dry any boat, trailer and fishing equipment, etc. that was used at another body of water, before boating on Leesville Lake.
• Never release plants, including contents from an aquarium into the lake.

What should you do if you observe possible aquatic nuisance vegetation in Leesville Lake?

Please take a sample and note the location of the vegetation. Then contact the Chairman of the Leesville Lake Association Water Quality Committee, Mike Lobue, at (434) 369-8044. He will tell you where to bring the sample and will have it identified. Do not attempt to treat or remove aquatic nuisance vegetation yourself.

We have a few hats and calendars left. If you're interested please mail $13 (including shipping) each to Leesville Lake Association, PO BOX 68, Altavista, VA 24517-0068. Hats or calendars can also be picked up at any Association meeting or Tri-County Marina for $10 each.

Our first calendar has been very successful. Please remember to submit seasonal pictures for our next year's calendar. Submit your pictures taken in very high resolution to lakedoughbegone@msn.com