Curt Carpenter, a guardian of our lake

Curt Carpenter, Guardian of our Lake

The Right Time, The Right Place, and the Right Person

By Joe Rogers

Today, Moses Lake faces a new and combined threat of invasive vegetation and increasing amounts of silt. Some would resign the lake to eventually fill in as just part of the “natural order”. Others hate the idea any government agency messing with the water. But Curt Carpenter sees a different future. Curt is the general manager of the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District or MLIRD. The agency has been around since 1928, and is the only agency in all of Washington State invested by law with the sole purpose to be the guardian of a lake. MLIRD was formed to watch over the water quality, and to rehabilitate and improve Moses Lake in order to further the health, recreation and welfare of residents in the area.

For many years, the agency’s efforts were fitful and unnoticed. Then about three years ago, the agency’s commissioners hired Curt Carpenter. Curt’s leadership, experience and training has enabled the MLIRD to become a model of stewardship for the state.

If you take a quick review of all that MLIRD has recently accomplished and have a look at their future plans you are going to be impressed.

What have they done?
They increased the cleanliness, clarity, and oxygen capacity of the lake water by working with other agencies to increase water flow through the lake. Ask anybody who uses the lake how much cleaner it is. MLIRD also improved water flow with a more efficient pumping station that pipes incoming water into the once stagnant lake water behind McCosh Park.

They have held the line against the growth of lake-choking milfoil by refurbishing the old weed harvester and purchasing a second one. And the MLIRD mapped out problem areas and established a long-range Vegetation Management Plan with the help of a DOE grant that Curt obtained.
Curt has also initiated a summer Water Quality Institute for hand-on training of elementary, middle school and high school students to do real Water Quality testing. Last year, 13 high school students and 34 elementary and middle school students went through the program.

And what steps is MLIRD taking for the future health of Moses Lake?
For a start, they intend to dredge out the years of silt accumulation clogging the lake. Dredging should return the lake to its original rocky bottom and give small fish a place to hide and grow. MLIRD has already purchased a used commercial dredging machine for the project and the permits have all been applied for. There is a good chance the project could start next August.

In addition, MLIRD has visionary plans for their property at Connelly Park. With only a fraction of the 124 acre park currently developed, Curt has initiated a long-range plan that calls for large scale landscaping with formal gardens of appropriate eastern Washington plants, adding sports fields and camping facilities, complete with small rental cabins and walking trails. And he intends to remodel the current buildings for better educational programs and create an interpretive center.
Altogether MLIRD is embarked on several ambitious programs to protect, and enhance the park and our lake.
You would be right to ask at this point, if the MLIRD and its manager have the wisdom, training, and experience for all they want to do. And on top of this, Curt says he and his staff intend to do almost all the work themselves. His “staff” by the way, consists of only four people, Chris Wilson, Mike Cole, Garrett Goff, and Administrative Assistant, Julie Smith. Can MLIRD really do all this, Is Curt Carpenter up to the challenge?

You be the judge.
Landscaping 124 acres with formal gardens?
Managing all the vegetation problems of our lake?
It happens that Carpenter is a certified landscape architect. His degree from WSU included advanced training in architecture, horticulture, as well as engineering and construction management.
Before that, Curt spent many years as the field manager for the Moses Lake Conservation District Nursery. So he knows his plants.

And what about experience in construction and planning?

After graduating from WSU, Curt served over ten years in the City of Moses Lake Engineering Department supervising construction plans and plat reviews.
How about running a Water Quality Institute for children? This surely is too much for one guy. Well, good point, but Curt gets a little help here. Curt’s wife, Jennifer joins him for the institute. Jennifer has taught science classes at Moses Lake High School for over a decade. And Curt’s father, Clyde lends a hand. Clyde Carpenter taught science classes at the high school for 31 years and then went on to found the Water Quality Institute. Finally Curt also gets the help of his old professor of geosciences from WSU, Jack Horne. This high-powered team of five runs a pretty educational Institute.

What about all the mechanical issues the district faces, you might wonder. Who understands the issues in buying and mending a used dredging machine? Who can rehabilitate a specialized weed harvester and fix a high-powered pump? These require mechanical and hands-on knowledge that only someone mechanically trained and experienced would have. You need something more than an architect.
Well, it turns out that Curt Carpenter actually started out to be a mechanic. He graduated from the BBCC Automotive Program and even worked a while for C&V Auto. He later joined Shay construction and worked for years as a heavy equipment operator running bulldozers, scrapers, and track hoes on various projects at Washington State University- until the day the Landscape Architecture program caught his eye.

In these times when our lake needs so much care, MLIRD manager, Curt Carpenter is the right man for the job and we are lucky it’s our lake that he takes care of.