Pickle brine? Factory waste? Sewage? These are common misconceptions about the causes of Lake Macatawa’s murky and stinking waters. In reality, the dark green and brown water is filled with dark muddy sediment and excessive amounts of phosphorus, creating extreme algae blooms and the nearly fluorescent green water at times.
Currently, there are 75 to 125 parts per billion of phosphorus in the water; this is around 60%-80% more phosphorus than there should be in the lake for it to be happy. Nutrient loading is one of the genuine problems that affect Lake Macatawa. Fortunately, Project Clarity, a nonprofit organization, is working towards cleaning up the local watershed.
Project Clarity works closely with other businesses and organizations, including Hope College, The Macatawa Watershed, and the Outdoor Discovery Center.
Current Water Quality Reports from Outdoor Discovery and Hope College show the condition and phosphorus levels of Lake Macatawa and the local watershed. There are about 175 square miles that are a part of the watershed.
Erosion that is taking place in the watershed causes sediments to bind to phosphorus and runoff into tributaries that then flow into Lake Macatawa. For example, an agricultural field is filled with phosphorus-based fertilizer to help promote crop growth. When it rains or the field is watered, the extra water will runoff and erode into drainage ditches. These eventually flow into the watershed and into the lake, taking the phosphorus fertilizer with it into the environment.
Around 90% of the phosphorus found in Lake Macatawa is from erosion around the watershed. The excess phosphorus in the water gives the lake the green color, causes frequent algae blooms, decreases oxygen in the lake, and chokes out a diversity of species. Project Clarity has the end goal to solve and reduce the problem of phosphorus nutrient loading within the lake.
Dan Callam, Greenway manager at Outdoor Discovery Center, speaks about some of the ways that Project Clarity is working to reduce nutrient loading in the lake.
Wetland restoration is one of the many solutions to the problem of nutrient pollution in Lake Macatawa. Around 85% of wetlands in the Macatawa watershed have been cleared out and developed over. “The classic story is: the Dutch came to town… and they were able to dry out the land and make it usable and farmable,” Callam said. “Wetlands are like the kidneys of the watershed.

They filter out all of the pollutants before they get into the lake.”
Now, with little wetlands remaining, pollutants can easily wash and run into the lake. “We can’t get all of the wetlands back that we’ve lost,” Callam addresses. “Now we are trying to figure out if there are ways to recreate or enhance wetlands that are already there and make them more efficient.” Wetlands truly show the irreversible effects that humans can have on their environment, but luckily there are ways that this can be helped and assist in restoring the waters of Lake Macatawa.
Educating the public is one of the other steps being taken to help conserve the lake. “This wasn’t a concept two or three generations ago,” Callam explains. “Only just now are high schools hitting on these subjects [of sediment runoff and nutrient loading]. We are trying to educate people on what the role of the watershed is and the health of the lake and encourage them to think about ways on their own property so they can minimize the runoff from their sight… They can use rain guards or rain barrels,” Callam states as possible individual solutions to the problem of sediment runoff. These are cheap and easy solutions that any property owner in the Holland area can implant to prevent sediment runoff.
There is still a way to go in the recovery and clean-up of Lake Macatawa.

The goal is to get the watershed and the lake to reach water quality standards and phosphorus amount recommendations set by the EPA. “The Lake will never look exactly like Lake Michigan, and be crystal clear,” Callam said. “We just want it to be a lake that is clean and clear but has a dark bottom and can support warm-water fisheries, like that would have been here 200 years ago.”
The lake is showing improvements towards this end goal. “Historically, the lake has been around 125 to over 200 parts per billion [of phosphorus] and the past few years it has ranged around 75 to 125 parts per billion.” Thus, Project Clarity has made an impact. Project Clarity continues to research and to bring Lake Macatawa back to its natural state.
The future for Lake Macatawa is promising. The pollution problem is curable. The product of Project Clarity is already visible. Slowly, the water is becoming cleaner. With help of Project Clarity and the locals, there is hope that one day the lake can be home to large biodiversity as well as be a natural attraction that locals can take pride in. For the lake to reach this state, it will take time and effort from not only Project Clarity, but hard work from the locals and residents of Holland.