By Dennis Box, The Courier-Herald

In the morning, when mist hangs above Lake Bonney and ducks glide over the surface, there is a sense of lost time and life in the shades and shadows that drift in and out of the light.

It is this fragile evocation of the past and reflection of a damaged future that prompted three woman to begin forming a non-profit organization, the Lake Bonney Conservation Association, that is attempting to preserve the lake. Dana McCauley, Sue Elsey and Sharon Steele, all residents along the lake, have spent the last four months actively going through the process of setting up the organization.

"This group has been trying to form for the last 12 years, when I first moved on the lake," McCauley said. "But it got so confusing nothing happened. This time it will be a perpetual effort to save the lake."

The need to protect and preserve the lake has been a movement in the Lake Bonney community for some time. Linda Remmers first tried to raise awareness of the lake's ecological problems in the late 1980s. Two weeks ago, the issue came to a crossroad when the city repaved the road around the lake .

"When they repaved, the oil runoff started things going," McCauley said. "All of a sudden red flags went up and we knew we had to move. We're happy with the road. It was so dangerous before, it's a wonderful change. But the runoff showed us we had to move faster."

McCauley, Elsey and Steel have been helped by Sharilyn Anderson, particularly in the area of the City Council and mayor's office. Anderson's lakeside home is located at the original site of Sherwood Bonney's home.

"This lake has a soul," Anderson said. "When the mist is hanging over it in the morning you can feel it has a soul. When the new road went in it brought up the issue that it had to be dealt with right away. Those of us living on the lake have the responsibility to be good stewards. Everybody wants to do a good job to keep our lake in good shape."

Anderson and McCauley both reported the City Council members and mayor have been very responsive, coming out and walking along the lake to see the problems for themselves.

A $50,000 new expenditure category for lakes, streams and wetland protection was added to the 2004 proposed budget to fund environmental studies for Lake Bonney and Fennel Creek.

"We want to preserve our environmentally sensitive areas," Mayor Bob Young said. "I don't know if we can fund everything for Lake Bonney, but this is a good expenditure."

McCauley reported that one of the major concerns of the Lake Bonney Conservation Association is storm water runoff flowing unfiltered into the lake from the local watershed .

"It's a beautiful natural spring lake. We really don't know the source of the lake's aquifer. Over the period of time I've lived on the lake the yellow-bellied catfish are gone, snails are disappearing and we hardly hear the frogs anymore. The frogs are like the canaries in the mines," McCauley said.

The association believes the lake has been severely hit by the impact of new development, trees being cut down and natural vegetation removed, affecting the watershed and drainage.

"This isn't new thing," Anderson said. "It's the same story over and over. But this time we are determined to make it better. To get our act together and not let it go any longer. There's this magic quality to this lake that we can not lose."

For more information regarding the Lake Bonney Conservation Association contact Doug McCauley at 253-863-6190.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com