To the editor:

In 1960, Salt Creek was dammed and the building of Lake Monroe began. Residents below a certain elevation were required to leave several small communities, including Elkinsville. It’s now the largest lake in Indiana at 10,750 acres.

Since it’s completion in 1965, Monroe Lake has prevented more than $38 million in flood damage, or more than twice its original cost of $16.5 million, according to the official Lake Monroe website. It also provides drinking water, primarily for Monroe County, but is also a source in Brown County.

Lake Monroe attracts over a million visitors a year for boating, swimming, fishing, watching sunsets over the water, hiking through trails in the woods, birdwatching and more. But what will the future bring?

Heed the warning signs

Lake Monroe is on the Environmental Protection Agency impaired list for algae and mercury and recreational advisories have been issued at times for swimming and fishing.

Water drains into the lake from five counties: Brown, Monroe, Jackson, Bartholomew and Lawrence. The communities from all these counties in the Lake Monroe watershed have a part to play in protecting Lake Monroe.

There has never been a management plan to help manage and protect Lake Monroe. But now, we have a great opportunity: Friends of Lake Monroe have received a grant to develop a management plan for Lake Monroe.

What are your concerns for the lake? Your input is needed. Please join us at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Brown County Library. The community forum is sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters Brown County and Bloomington-Monroe County and Friends of Lake Monroe.

For information or to register visit www.lwvbrowncounty.org/or email [email protected].

Shari Frank,

president of the League of Women Voters, Brown County