Why Mercer built fish habitats in a local drinking lake, how it helps environment
Mercer University teamed up with the Macon Water Authority to install specially-designed fish habitats to restore ecological balance in a reervoir used for drinking water in Bibb, Jones and Monroe counties.
The project, fully funded by Mercer’s biology and engineering departments, aims to support bait species such as minnows and crayfish after research showed an overabundance in predator species, causing a decline in other species such as largemouth bass, according to Phil McCreanor, professor and chair of environmental and civil engineering at Mercer University.
Having a balanced ecosystem is important in keeping the lake clean and healthy, McCreanor said.
“If the lake becomes predator heavy, it will eventually become sort of a dead lake,” said McCreanor. “So by keeping the water body having a balanced population, it’s going to keep the lake itself as a healthy lake and a clean lake, which is good for our for us as the people who it’s ultimately our water supply.”
Javors Lucas Lake, which is 560 acres, also serves as a fishing lake.
“Lake Lucas is also a recreational fishing spot,” said Craig Byron, professor of biology and chair of the biology department. “People pay money to put their boats in and fish these waters. A balanced predator/prey dynamic is more important for that aspect of the lake’s usage … recreational fishing.”
The habitat structures were made from sturdy plastic panels commonly used for underground rainwater tanks and are designed to imitate natural breeding habitats. The team installing the structures included three Mercer University professors, one graduate student and six high school students from Stratford Academy.
The new habitats will be studied this fall during a research course led by Byron.
The shift in predator-prey dynamics could be due to a few reasons. The first probable cause is the introduction of new species, such as spotted bass and hybrid striped bass, which compete with other species for resources, according to Byron. Another factor is climate change, which is warming water temperatures.
“Warming waters means higher peak temps in summer that can physiologically stress certain fish,” Byron said. “Also, different species are more susceptible to certain temperature changes partially because of their preferences for different positions throughout the lake.”
This specific partnership between Mercer University’s biology department and Macon Water Authority began two years ago when Byron asked for senior level biology students to collect from the reservoir and study aquatic species and their respective habitats, according to Rachad Hollis, spokesperson for Macon Water Authority.
The School of Engineering also has a history of collaborating with MWA, too.
“We’ve had good relationships with them for a long time,” McCreanor said. “(For this project) one of our environmental engineering graduate students had his undergraduate degree in biology, and he had taken some ixiology courses, which is the study of fish, and so he was trying to do some type of project with fish as part of his graduate program, and this kind of just fell into our laps.”
The six Stratford students volunteered after McCreanor spoke with a parent about getting some students involved.
“It’s important for young people to learn about their community’s infrastructure,” McCreanor said. “And a number of those students had actually been out there fishing before... and they hadn’t really connected that this lake where they fish was also where their drinking water came from.”
