Studies by volunteer citizen monitors show Smith Lake is one of the cleanest lakes in Alabama, said Dr. Bill Deutsch, director of the Alabama Water Watch Program.

Deutsch said according to a recent list by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management of about 40 lakes around the state, Smith Lake is in the top ranks and is attracting more residents than ever.

“It is a real gem,” he said. “And that’s why it’s exploding with people wanting to live there because people want, obviously, a beautiful, clean lake to live on.”

The Smith Lake Environmental Preservation Committee hosted its annual meeting and State of the Lake Address recently to discuss water quality of the lake, trends over time and activities going on within the Alabama Water Watch Program. Deutch was a keynote speaker at the event.

The Smith Lake Environmental Preservation Committee monitors the east side of the lake while the Smith Lake Civic Association monitors the lake’s western portion. Deutsch said data compiled by a group monitoring the lake’s eastern section led by Deb Berry revealed Smith Lake is becoming increasingly clear. The citizens monitored the clarity of the lake by lowering a disk into the water with a rope and measuring the length from the water’s surface to the distance at which the rope disappears from sight.

“Both groups have been monitoring for 10 years,” Deutsch said. “So their information is some of the best and most consistent and long term water quality data for the lake ever. Specialists come in, the power company or a university, or ADEM, but usually not nearly as consistent or long term as the community groups are doing now.”

In 1997, the portion of the lake where Berry’s group conducted the clarity test revealed only about three feet of visibility. Recently, the disk could be seen nine feet below the water’s surface, which Deutsch said is a good sign and evidence the lake is becoming cleaner on the east side, which faces Cullman and is near agricultural development and poultry farms. The west side of Smith Lake, Deutsch said, has always been cleaner because of the Sipsey wilderness and Bankhead Forest.

Deutsch said a top concern is lake-front development after recent hurricanes have driven former coastal residents to homes along Smith Lake. He said residents have expressed concern about how much development the lake can handle.

“Things that people do on their land next to the lake might end up in the lake and affect the fisheries, affect the quality, affect the beauty, the health and the swimming and all of that,” he said.

Deutch said the on-going population growth around Smith Lake could be detrimental if residents are careless about septic tank maintenance, placement of lawn fertilizer or boat sewage. He said another concern is fluctuation in lake levels which topped out at 17 feet in the past year.

“They’re trying to get the power company to minimize those wide fluctuations, and, of course, you can see why,” he said. “Some people, it’s because they can’t get to their boat or dock, but for others, on the environmental side, they’re concerned that when the lake is dropped so far, that a lot of the bank is exposed and with the boat traffic and everything else, it erodes.”

Deutch said the erosion causes sediment to enter the lake causing it to gradually fill. Some residents said they have lost several feet of their lake-front property because of the erosion, he said.

“It’s a real political issue, “ he said. “It’s going to be a hot button up there.”