ROYAL LAKE

SHELBY TOWNSHIP

MACOMB COUNTY 

2000 WATER QUALITY STUDY

ROYAL LAKE DATA

Royal Lake is a 4.4-acre man-made storm water retention basin located in Section 26, Shelby Township (T3N R12E), Macomb County, Michigan. The lake is located in the Kingswood Estates Subdivision. Their are 25 homes which surround Royal Lake. All of the homes feature a walkout basement. The lake has a maximum depth of 14 feet, a water volume of 41 acre-feet, and a mean depth of 9.6 feet. It has 1690 feet of shoreline. The elevation of the lake is about 635 feet above sea level.

There are several storm drams which discharge into the lake. The size of the watershed, which is the land area that contributes water to the lake, but does not include the lake could not be determined because of recent extensive land surface changes. Water from Royal Lake flows into the Clinton River. The Clinton River flows into Lake St. Clair below Mt. Clemens, Michigan.

The longitude and latitude of the 14-foot deep hole is 83° 28.298W and 42° 39.195N.  

RECOMMENDATIONS

Royal Lake was designed to function as a storm water retention basin, and that is what it is doing. In doing so, it is capturing nutrients and salts from the surrounding area. It will be difficult, if not impossible to change the way the biology is functioning in the pond. It's a lot easier if residents recognize Royal Lake is a very productive system, and live with the plants and wildlife that will rather quickly occupy it.

Do not use fertilizers containing either nitrogen or phosphorus on near-shore areas (within 400 feet) of the lake, unless, of course, you want more aquatic plants and algae.

Continue taking Secchi disk readings through the warm months to provide baseline data on the lake.

If residents want to use the lake for swimming and wading, fecal coliform (or E. coli) testing should be done on a regular basis through the swimming season. A reasonable number of samples are five per week. This testing is usually available through the county health department. And pay attention to the results.

If herbicides continue to be used to control aquatic plants, the water quality will probably get worse. And because of the amount of nutrients that get into the lake, and the small amount of water in the lake, aquatic plants and algae will continue to interfere with the uses residents want to make of the lake. The lake is in the best condition it will be in. In the future, things will probably be worse.

I usually recommend lakes remain in the testing program for several years, but that is not necessary in the case of Royal Lake. On the other hand, testing similar to what we did in 2000 should be done about once every five years. That will allow residents to follow changes, if they occur, in Royal Lake.

AND REMEMBER: GREEN LAWNS MAKE GREEN LAKES

Wallace E. Fusilier, Ph.D.

Consulting Limnologist

Water Quality Investigators

734-426-8972

Dexter, Michigan