This summer you may have noticed that water levels for Lake Minnetonka were fairly consistent between June and the beginning of July. Despite having multiple storms and what seemed to be high water input into Lake Minnetonka, consisting of rainfall and water runoff from surrounding land, there was an equal amount of output.  The 2 main outputs for Lake Minnetonka; evaporation and flow into Minnehaha Creek, have an average annual evaporation and outflow = 30 inches and 18 inches per year. This is equivalent to about 368 million bathtubs worth of water going in and out of the lake annually!

An average year maintains a lake level just over 928.6 feet above sea level, which is the selected historical runout level.  The occurrence of a drought or excess rainfall will raise or lower the lake level.  MCWD drains excess water from Lake Minnetonka (according to a clear plan) at various rates depending on the time of year and actual lake level.  The dam is closed when the lake reaches the historical runout level or water can overtop the dam when the lake level reaches 930 feet above sea level.

View current lake levels: www.minnehahacreek.org

What can WE do to reduce oil pollution?

• Properly dispose of or recycle oil and oil products at your county hazardous material drop off site or check your local auto repair and lube shops.
• Gather your neighbors to stencil storm drains with messages like “Please Don’t Pollute! Drains to Lake (river or wetland).”
• Repair automobile leaks right away and clean up the oil spots left behind using cat litter or another absorbent material.  Sweep up and dispose of it in a sealed bag in the trash.
• Landscape for clean water.  Native vegetation and healthy soils can capture and break down oil pollution from runoff that would otherwise wash straight into your lake, stream or wetland and eventually the ocean!

Published in the August Tonka Times

Curly Leaf Pondweed

Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, and they are the reason we enjoy living here. However, the lakes we love are the lakes we have potential to damage if we are not careful.  The transportation of invasive species into our lake is a threat only we can prevent.  Invasive species are plants and animals that will take over and outcompete the native species.  As a result they reduce the lake’s diversity and interfere with recreation.  The most common species threatening Minnesota’s lakes include: Eurasian milfoil, curly leaf pondweed, zebra mussels, spiny water flea, and more recently, flowering rush. 

There are certain precautions we can take:

• Remove any vegetation, mud, or critters from your boat, trailer, boat lift or dock before transporting
• Always rinse off all equipment you take out of the water. Use a pressure washer and bleach when coming off infested waters.
• Allow equipment to dry for 5 days before putting it in a different lake.
• Dump water out of the bilge, livewell, bait containers, ballast tanks and motor before leaving the lake.

For more information visit the DNR http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/invasives.html

Published in the July Tonka Times

Picture your favorite fishing hole. Would you prefer clear blue water or a lake covered in a layer of greenish-brown algae, complete with a shimmering trail of engine oil and grease? There are a few steps you can take at home and in your yard to ensure that local lakes provide healthy habitat for fish and enjoyable fishing opportunities for years to come.

1. Think like a fish. Fish, like people, prefer clean water to swim in. Any pollutant that lands on a sidewalk, driveway or road can eventually be washed away into a storm sewer or roadside ditch and wind up in our local lakes and rivers. Sweep up any spilled herbicide, pesticide, fertilizer or road salt from paved surfaces around your home, repair any engine leaks on your car and dispose of used engine oil properly at a drop-off facility.
2. Give a breath of fresh air. When algae grows out of control on a lake due to excess phosphorus in the water, it creates a chain reaction that reduces oxygen in the water, resulting in fewer, smaller fish and even mass fish kills. Help reduce phosphorus that enters lakes by keeping grass clippings and other yard waste off of paved surfaces and using zero-phosphorus dishwasher detergent.
3. Save some shade. Fish require shady, vegetated habitats for spawning. Leave at least half of your shoreline unmowed and under natural cover to create habitat for fish.

Published in the June Tonka Times

You often hear concerns about water quality on the news, but do you know the status of your favorite lake?  The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District along with Three Rivers Park District, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and Metropolitan Council test water quality annually during the summer on several lakes within the watershed.  The lake grades indicate the perceived condition of the open water in comparison to other lakes in the area.  Grades are based on three measurements, though there are other factors that that contribute to water quality like aquatic plants, fisheries, harmful chemicals, over-use, etc.

The three measurements include:

• Total Phosphorous (TP) - an increase in phosphorus relates closely to increased quantity of blue-green algae, and frequency of algae blooms.
• Chlorophyll-a (CLA) - the green pigment in plants. Chlorophyll-a is essential to photosynthesis. A measure of its presence in water estimates algae abundance.
• Secchi disk (SD) transparency - The lower the Secchi disk is visible, the clearer the water appears.

You and your neighbors can help improve your lake’s grade by doing simple things like using less fertilizer, sweeping up leaves and lawn clippings from the driveway and curb, and cleaning up pet waste. Also, planting native vegetation along your shoreline, in your gardens or creating a raingarden helps filter water runoff. This reduces the amount of excess nutrients, chemicals and sediments that run into your lake and helps improve your lake’s water quality grade.

To find your lake’s grade, visit the Lake Grades Page

Published in the May Tonka Times

Composting allows for disposal of unwanted food and yard waste and supplies you with vitamin-rich soil for your lawn, gardens and potted plants.

• Pick a spot in your yard and create a pile on the ground, build a bin, or buy a bin at a hardware store.
• Next, add compostable materials starting with a layer of browns, such as leaves, dried grass or shredded newspaper. To this, add greens, such as vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, egg shells, and green grass trimmings. Never add meat or dairy products.
• Add water to keep moist and periodically turn it with a pitchfork.
• Within months, the waste transforms into healthy, rich soil. Apply a dose of vitamins by spreading 1/8 – ¼ inch over the lawn or amend soils in your gardens.

The compost protects your soil from erosion and helps to retain soil moisture.

To learn more about composting visit www.reduce.org or www.GreenGuardian.org.

Swaying cattails, the musical trill of a toad, the silent statue of a Great Blue Heron; is that what you imagine when you envision a wetland?   A wetland’s beauty and diversity are apparent at a glance; however, the function of a wetland is deeper than the surface and wider spread than the wet depression we walk by.

Wetlands are Mother Nature’s sponge; preventing flooding and soil erosion by taking up rainwater from your roof, driveway and street. The water infiltrates through the soil and is slowly released into nearby lakes or streams and replenishes the groundwater.

As rainwater runs off into a wetland, plants and soil filter the water, preventing harmful chemicals, sediment and excess nutrients from entering our precious water bodies and keeping our water clean and safe.

You can help protect the function of wetlands by keeping a buffer (unmowed, natural vegetation) around your wetland; and avoid filling or altering wetlands. If you don’t own a wetland, you probably live upstream of one. Use lawn care chemicals sparingly (or not at all) - and consider planting a rain garden or composting your yard waste to avoid sending pollution downstream.

April 22 is well known as a day that communities across the globe gather to celebrate Earth Day with trash pick-ups, recycling drives, and art events. The idea that inspires millions started 40 years ago with the initiative and drive of one man from Wisconsin.  U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson invited the nation to participate in a grassroots demonstration bringing the environment to the political limelight in the spring of 1970.  Interest swept the country and millions of demonstrators, thousands of schools and local communities participated in the first Earth Day.

Today, many organizations have developed from this movement, including those that protect our most precious resource: water.  Luckily, you don’t have to leave your yard to protect water quality.  Here are 5 activities you can do:

• Plant native vegetation along your shoreline and in your gardens to promote fertile soil, rainwater infiltration, and food for native animals.
• Fertilize less, sweep up excess fertilizer on your driveway or sidewalk, and use zero Phosphorous fertilizer to prevent excess nutrients in your lakes and streams that cause algae blooms.  Or…
• Compost  grass clippings and leaves from your yard to stop them from washing into the storm sewers that lead to your lake or stream and use it to fertilize your gardens.
• Store water runoff from your roof in a rain barrel and use it on your yard to save water.
• Clean up pet waste and throw it in the trash to prevent disease-causing bacteria that make water unsafe for swimming and drinking.

Published in the April Tonka Times

Native plants are the key to an easy, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly garden.  Choosing to plant native means you’ve chosen plants that are hardy and well-adapted to the soils and climate in which they grow.  This means you have more time and money to enjoy Minnesota’s short-lived summers!

Here’s why:

Water your garden less – native plants require little more water than normal rainfall and you preserve our precious water resources!  Native plants also help stormwater runoff infiltrate into the soil with their extensive root system recharging ground water and preventing flooding.

Fertilize less- in fact native plants improve your soil fertility!  Native plants flourish in native soils and even pull excess nutrients out of stormwater runoff before it enters our local water bodies.

Weed your garden less – native species resist invasion of alien plant species.

In addition, native plants attract wildlife by providing food and shelter.  In fact you can choose your plants by the type of wildlife you hope to attract for the habitat in your area.  Minnesota hosts a large variety of beautiful and functional native flowers and grasses.  For example you can plant a colorful native prairie butterfly garden with Prairie Milkweed, Black-Eyed Susan, Pasque Flower, Rough Blazing Stars, and Little Bluestem.  Also, a majority of native plants are perennials, which means you save yourself a trip back to the nursery next year!

Find more information about how to get started on your own native garden go to www.bluethumb.org

Also, find local raingarden workshops

Water, Earth’s most abundant molecule, is also one of its strangest. Water is the only common substance found naturally in its liquid, solid, and gas phases. And it is one of only a handful of substances that expands when it freezes, which makes the solid form (ice) less dense than liquid water. That’s why ice floats!

Why is this important? Think about it: if ice did not float, our lakes would freeze from the bottom up, making life very hard (pardon the pun) for aquatic plants and animals. And chunks of ice would not float, meaning the spring thaw would take much longer.

Turning Over

Water is actually at its densest at 39o Fahrenheit – just before freezing. In the fall, air temperatures cool layers of surface water, which denser (heavier) and sink to the bottom of the lake. The heavy, sinking water displaces the water beneath it, bringing it to the surface. This mixing phenomenon, known as fall turnover, is important for lake life because it allows all the lake’s water to be saturated with oxygen – which fish and other critters need all winter long.

In spring, the small differences in temperature from surface to bottom allow winds and storms to easily mix the water column. But as the surface waters warm with the sun’s heat, they become buoyant - and the coolest (but not frozen) water stays at the lake’s bottom. Eventually the lake becomes stratified, creating a barrier between oxygen-rich surface waters and deep waters that become depleted of oxygen (think of a bottle of salad dressing containing oil and vinegar). Thankfully, fall comes once again to shake up the lake, and the cycle continues, replenishing oxygen supplies to the deeper layers before the cap of ice freezes over once more.

Published in the March Tonka Times
By: Julie Westerlund

Here’s what you can do:

Pick up after yourself and your pet

Limit salt use for de-icing

Eco-friendlier alternatives to salt are available at hardware stores.  Products that mix salt with calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) or potassium acetate (KA) are better than salt alone.

Published in the February Tonka Times

Here is a reminder of ice safety tips to ensure you have a safe and fun winter!

• Ice is never completely safe. Never go onto the ice alone; a friend may be able to rescue you or go for help.

• Keep your pets on a leash when on the ice. Don’t attempt to rescue pets; if the ice is not strong enough to hold your pet, chances are it’s not strong enough to hold you. Go for help instead.
  
  
• Beware of ice covered with snow, which can insulate ice and keep it from freezing. Snow can also hide cracks, weak ice, and open ice.
  
  
• Ice thickness varies on the same waterbody. Because of currents below the water, water depth, and a host of other factors, ice seldom freezes at a uniform rate. Ice can be a foot thick in one spot and only an inch thick 10 feet away.
  
  
• If your companion falls through the ice, throw something to them – like a rope, tree branch or jumper cables from your car. If this does not work, call for help.
  
  
• If you fall in, try not to panic. Turn toward the direction you came from. Place your hands and arms on the unbroken surface and kick your feet to work yourself forward. If you are able to get back on the ice, remain lying down to distribute your weight and roll away from the hole. Crawl back from where you came.
  
  
• New ice is safer than old ice – as the season progresses, conditions can change rapidly.

Published in the January Tonka Times