Episode 14: Healthy Lakes Keep Families Together And Businesses Growing

Water is the first thing people picture when they think of Kosciusko County and it’s also one of the biggest reasons our community works. We sit down with Dr. Nate Bosch from the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams at Grace College and Cori Humes from Clearly Kosciusko and the Kosciusko County Convention and Visitors Bureau to connect the dots between clean water, local pride, and real economic impact.

We get specific about the numbers and the stakes: lakes bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars, tourism generating major visitor spending and jobs, and lake-influenced property values that directly affect the local tax base. Then we zoom in on what lake “health” actually means, why clear water is not the same as clean water, and how risks like E. coli and harmful algae toxins are monitored so residents and visitors can make smart choices.

You’ll also hear why Lake Rx is built around custom prescriptions for each lake, how big investments can shorten the timeline from “slow improvements” to measurable progress, and what hidden gems and signature events help visitors fall in love with more than just the shoreline, including the 2027 IWWF World Water Ski Show Championships coming to Warsaw.