White Bear Press post

You may have noticed the article in the White Bear Press written by Jessica Bromelkamp of the Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD).  The article is titled, "A sea of green".  She is working hard on getting neighbors to add rain gardens.

Also, I added a feature at the top of the blog that allows you to put in your email address so that you can automatically get updates via email.

Have a great weekend.

Jim

Couldn't resist adding this picture from White Bear Lake last week.

Photos of Bald Eagle Lake and White Bear Lake

I took this picture last Sunday evening just before the sun went down.  This was taken on the south shore of the lake.  The fall colors are certainly showing on the island. You can click on the photos to get a larger image.

I took this sunrise photo at the boat launch at Ramsey County beach on WBL last Thursday.  I couldn't resist the detour on the way to work.  It was an amazing sunrise.

From Press Publications - The Citizen

Posted: Thursday, September 5, 2013 12:39 pm

Hugo aims for grant to fund lake outlet repair

HUGO — Last week the Hugo City Council received an update on the pursuit of funds to help repair the failing outlet structure on the north end of Bald Eagle Lake at 129th Street N. The structure required emergency repairs in June following a torrential rainstorm.
Despite the presence of the city street on top of the five corrugated metal pipe culverts, which identifies it as a bridge, the structure also acts like a dam to impound water, City Engineer Jay Kennedy said at the Aug. 27 workshop. In addition to the biannual bridge inspections required by the state, the outlet is also periodically inspected by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ dam inspector. Staff is preparing a grant application for funds earmarked by the DNR under its Dam Safety Program. Kennedy said he recently met with the inspector at the site.

Structure replacement is estimated to cost just under $500,000. Approximately $250,000 has already been set aside by MnDOT for that purpose. The DNR could elect to fund all, part or none of the amount requested, Kennedy said.

Should the structure fail, 1,000-acre Bald Eagle Lake would drop from 5 to 6 feet in elevation, sending the water down Clearwater Creek toward Centerville. The city has been working with the DNR and St. Paul Water Services to try to identify the owner of the structure, which was likely built more than a century ago and holds the lake level higher than where it would otherwise be.

“Construction can proceed as soon as the project becomes fully funded,” Kennedy said.

The grant application is scheduled for council approval at its Sept. 16 meeting.

— Deb Barnes

Annual meeting minutes written by Tom Weyandt

From Tom Weyandt:

Bald Eagle Area Association Annual Meeting October 19, 2013

Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD)

Matt Kocian

1.         Review of Water Quality Data for Bald Eagle Lake

Things are looking better but there was a blip in the 2012 data.  This was caused by significant rain in the spring and then a hot summer.  The blip was common in many lakes and not a cause for great concern.  Overall the phosphorus count is down except for the noted blip in 2012.

2.         Curly Leaf Pondweed

            Due in part to a change in DNR regs which discontinued the entire lake treatment scheme only 97 acres were treated on Bald Eagle in 2013.  This was fine because that’s about all there was.  Total cost in 2013 was $26,000 whereas the prior years average from 05-12 was $40,000.

3.         Flowering Rush

            This invasive was found in a small area on the west side of the lake near the point that is south of the West Oaks dock.  The plant has small purple flowers that look a bit like a coneflower.  Herbicides don’t work particularly well for this plant and so the solution was to remove it by pulling up the entire plant.  Mr. Kocian felt this was successful in part because the area at a loose mucky bottom.  The DNR will continue to monitor the area and treat as needed.

4.         Oneka Ridge Water Quality Project

            Simply put this project is designed to take a small area ditch near the Oneka Ridge Golf Course and divert the water into a holding pond.  That pond will then be used to store water during high water periods and those waters will be used to irrigate the golf course.  Mr. Kocian suggested that up to 75 lbs of phosphorus would be removed from the Judicial Ditch 1, which contributes a significant amount to the BE phosphorus exterior load.  The added benefit is that it will reduce the amount of aquifer water that Oneka Ridge uses to irrigate the course.

            Detail can be found here:  http://www.ricecreek.org/index.asp?Type=GALLERY&SEC={63CA25BC-12D9-4281-86A4-3183F3E65413}

            Questions arose.  The first was a series of questions suggesting that any reduction in water input into Bald Eagle should be very carefully considered, particularly in light of the retrospective view of the ‘wrong decisions’ that were made concerning wells and storm water drainage that impacted White Bear Lake.  One man was very insistent that the loss of water would have a negative impact on Bald Eagle.

            The second series of questions concerned the ratio of project dollars cost to the amount of phosphorus being removed or locked up as in the alum treatment.  The alum treatment will lock up about 1,100 lbs for roughly $900,000 and the golf course project will only remove 75 lbs for a significant amount of money (cost was unstated).  Mr. Kocian responded by pointing out first that the phosphorus problem has to be dealt with in a number of ways and that cutting off additional external inputs is very important.  He said that the continued input from the golf course project would dramatically reduce the life expectancy of the alum treatment to maybe only 10 years effectiveness.

           

5.         Alum Treatment

            Plans call for two applications of aluminum sulfate, one in May 2014 and another in May 2016.  Mr. Kocian said that splitting it up into two treatments has been found to increase the life expectancy of the process.  He explained that the treatment will involved the use of some type of barge to spread the liquid that will be pumped from on-shore trucks to the barge and that each application will take 7-10 days depending on the weather.  Areas of the lake that are 10+ feet deep will be treated.  This process should dramatically decrease the amount of phosphorus in the lake.  The internal load that will be cut off is 44% of the total load and about 1,100 lbs.

            The application causes a white floc to form that will take 2-3 days to settle into the lake.  Concerns about the impacts on fish, invertebrates and plants are minimal.  The pH of Bald Eagle currently is about 8.5 and as long as it remains above 6.0 there should not be any problems.

            Mr. Kocian gave significant resource citations concerning issues about the possible negative human impacts on the application, including concerns about an increase risk of Alzheimer’s.  Quite simply based on his research those concerns are unfounded.

            The cost of the alum treatment is roughly $900,000.  Of that amount $400,000 will be a 10 year loan to be repaid by local residents through the Bald Eagle Watershed District fee.

Jessica Bromelkamp

6.         She is the staff person working on Rain Garden Projects.  She is anxious to get several demonstration projects in place and to arrange for tours.  She spent a considerable time explaining the cost sharing possibilities that RCWD.  She pointed out in particular the negative impact of oil and debris entering waters from roads and parking lots indicating that these products contain significant amounts of phosphorous.  Persons interested in finding out more can check the RCWD web page at Rain Gardens.

Steve McComas

            Mr. McComas gave a brief presentation about the likely impacts on the lake following the alum treatment.  He said that there will be a significant increase in the plants in the lake due to the clearer water.  While now the plants go out to around 10 feet he suspects that they will go out to 14 or 15 feet after the treatments. He was quick to point out that the new areas will most likely be native plants and so they are a positive thing.  He also said that there will be a cycle of increased growth for a couple of years and that will be followed by things leveling off.

            Concerns about curly leaf pondweed and Eurasian milfoil should not increase significantly but those will have to be continually monitored and dealt with.

            ChineseMystery Snails are still a problem in the lake and will go through up and down cycles that really can’t be impacted.

BEAA Annual Meeting

            Jim Moore introduced the current board as well as four additional people who have expressed and interest in being on the board.  The bylaws allow for 15 members and with the current slate of people the board will be 9 individuals from around the lake.  A vote was taken and all candidates were approved.

            The new bylaws were brought up and quickly approved by those present.

            The BEAA has about $22,000 on hand and has no need to begin a dues process.

            Communication with members has been hampered by a lack of current email addresses.  Mr. Moore asked that folks update their contact information so that BEAA can expedite the sharing of information.

Rice Creek Board of Managers meeting regarding Alum treatment

From Tom Weyandt

The Rice Creek Watershed District Board of Managers held the public hearing on the Bald Eagle Lake alum treatment on October 9.   No members of the public made comment at the meeting.

Manager John Weller asked about the accuracy of the report that 14% of the phosphorus load in the lake comes from Judicial Ditch #1. He pointed out that several years ago work was done to reduce that number by installing collection ponds on the east side of Highway 61 near Buffalo Street. RCWD staff member Matt Kocian agreed that the 14% number was based on data from prior to the work on the ponds and that it is likely that the actual number is now lower. He was not able to give a revised estimate of the percentage of phosphorus that comes from JD#1.

Manager Weller also expressed concern that grass clippings and leaf litter from homes within the watershed were a contributor of phosphorus and yet little was said about dealing with that problem. Mr. Weller said that few people seem to understand what can be done to limit that material from entering the watershed. Staff member Jessica Bromelkamp said that there were some changes to the RCWD website dealing with the problem. She also said that she had prepared some informational pieces that she hoped would be published in local newspapers soon.

Carp and the impact on the long term success of the alum treatment was also brought up. Mr. Kocian explained that carp action is mainly in shallow lake areas and that given the depth of Bald Eagle that the carp were not likely to impact the area where the alum will be applied. Some work is being done to study the carp population in the lake but that current data indicates that the carp that are present are larger and less likely to cause significant problems with the alum treatment.