Wall Students Want City to Clean Up Lake Nasworthy

The project, born out of FCCLA's sustainability-focused competition called "STAR Events" (Students Taking Action with Recognition), seeks to sustain and improve the quality of San Angelo's Lake Nasworthy.

The resolution outlines the components of the project, including the development of informational signs and collection bins for fishing line and lures, a digital billboard ad, and media campaigns educating the public on cross-contamination concerns in lakes.

As part of the project, the students would donate their designs and projects to the city to be used as part of the city's existing water quality and lake quality public education programs. 

Additionally, the students plan to organize a cleanup at Lake Nasworthy.

“We chose to spread awareness and educate people on how to maintain Lake Nasworthy,” information shared at the meeting stated. 

“As people who use Nasworthy for recreation, we decided to question what water we are swimming, boating, and fishing in,” one of the students said at the meeting. “After research, we discovered that there are issues that can easily be solved with the spread of awareness and education.”

The students then showed the council what the main points of concern are, which consisted of cross contamination from failure to clean boats between lakes, chemical runoff from lawn maintenance such as fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides that flow into the water, and litter thrown into the water such as fishing line, lures, cans, and food wrappers. 

The presentation given also highlighted why this initiative is important. 

Key examples are protecting wildlife, providing quality drinking water at the source, reducing the cost and environmental impact of treating excessively dirty water, provides a long-term solution to sustain the beauty of the lake, and ensures a great place to enjoy time with friends and family. 

In order to get into action, Wall FCCLA has created informational posters around San Angelo and has created an educational Instagram with the handle @sustaining_lake_nasworthy. 

In the future, the group plans to set up signs around the boat ramp areas of the lake that will inform boaters to keep waste out of the water and set up trash bins for extra lines and lures that boaters might have once they get off the water so that they can be disposed of properly.

The purpose of partnering with the city for this initiative is to “take it to a whole new level.” 

Partnering with the city will provide a way for the organization to invest in the community, better spread the message to help sustain the lake, and ensure the lake stays clean and contaminant-free.