For the past two years, the Great Bend Public Lands Department has been able to keep the blue green algae levels at Veterans Lake low enough to keep the body of water off the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s algae warning list. But it hasn’t been easy.

Public Lands Director Scott Keeler says regular applications of alum have kept the levels of algae low enough that trout were once again stocked into the lake starting in late November.

Scott Keeler Audio

After the city hired the services of CH2M Hill to devise a plan to eliminate the algae problem in 2015, the introduction of alum into the water showed promise that the blue green algae problem might finally be eliminated. But Keeler says with runoff and the continued visitation by geese at the lake, ongoing treatment will be needed to keep the lake usable and available for fishing in the future.

Scott Keeler Audio

Keeler adds that geese have once again been a problem this fall at the lake thanks to higher water levels. While the city uses noisemakers and other methods to scare off the birds during the day, Keeler says they return after hours and says the number of geese on the lake this fall have been the most since the city started the scare tactics in 2015.