A new era is arriving... Alum treatment.

Most summers I charter a sailboat on Lake Superior from Superior Charters. One of the things I love the most about these trips is the absolute crystal clear waters.  You can see forever. Clarity in Lake Superior is said to be over 100 ft in places.  Well... We won't see THAT, but it will certainly be a lot better than we have ever seen.

So, what's the status of the Alum treatment, you may ask??

On May 5th, the Alum treatment will begin. It will encapsulate 1200 lbs of phosphorous in the water and drop it permanently to the bottom of the lake. This will result in an amazing transformation in the clarity of the water. We'll be able to see results almost immediately. We will be the jewel of Ramsey County. No longer will we have to live with green slimy stinky water. The treatment will require 10 days for the application of the chemicals. The contractor will suspend operation during the fishing opener weekend and resume the next week. If you happen to be on the lake while this process is active, please give the boat room to work and don't water ski through the milky waters. There will also be a tank at the boat launch and trucks delivering chemicals on a regular basis over this period.

There will be a second treatment in two years to complement the first treatment. It is hoped that this will keep the lake clear for up to 20 years. Infiltration of new chemicals from the various inlets will degrade the lake over the years. To minimize this, we all need to do our part to keep nasty chemicals out of the lake. Consider a rain garden or a rain barrel to slow down the movement of water into the lake. I have access to rain barrels if anyone wants one. Free. It may take a few weeks to get one. They are 55 gallon blue and white plastic barrels used in the food industry. I'm going to use one and spray paint it brown so it isn't so obvious.

For many of us that have worked on it for so many years, this is a really big deal.  We are all very excited to see this finally come to a head. It's been great to have all of the support of everyone in this endeavor.

Have a great summer on the lake. Hope to see you out there.

It's springtime?? Dam status. Spring dinner in three weeks.

Such crazy weather.  As I sit here, I look out over the lake, which apparently still has over 30" of ice on it.  I see our Island neighbors have a car parked in front of their house on the ice. The lake was ice free last year on May 2nd.  Any guesses what it will be this year?

Our annual spring dinner is coming up in 3 short weeks. Some of our board members have been busy investigating the deterioration of the dam at the north end of the lake and trying to figure out if there is anything we can do to improve the chances of public funding of the rebuild of the dam.

So, what's going on with the dam?
At present, we are waiting to see how funding goes with the current session of the MN legislature.  Our dam is 7th on the list for DNR funding. There appears to be a good chance that the specific funding request will happen this year.  But, there is still a shortfall and Hugo will not proceed until they have all the funds.

The dam continues to degrade and need inspection and repair by Hugo city staff.  You might want to stop at the dam and inspect it yourself.  At present, no one is expecting total failure in the near term, but monitoring is necessary.

What can you do?
Tom Weyandt stated it well on our Facebook page:

• The estimated cost of the replacement is $600,000 with $258,000 coming from MnDot for the road and $250,000 from the DNR controlled Dam Safety Fund. There is no reported source for the $98,000 shortfall. The Bald Eagle project is seventh on the list of dam repair funds sought by the DNR. The DNR funds need to be approved in a bonding bill being considered at the Capital. 
• At this point residents biggest impact would come from contact with area legislators. Sen. Roger Chamberlain sen.roger.chamberlain@senate.mn, and Rep. Matt Dean rep.matt.dean@house.mn and Linda Runbeck, rep.linda.runbeck@house.mn represent the area. Others can be found at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legislators.aspx. Consider contacting them and anyone else you can think of to try and assure that the funding is approved, increased to cover the projected cost, and that the Bald Eagle Project is one of the ones that gets funded in 2014.

 Spring Dinner
You should have gotten the party invite in the mail.  Please send it back as soon as possible.  Special thanks to those who donate to the silent auction items and to Kristi Gavin and Keely Huberty on their efforts toward making the dinner a success.

We look forward to seeing you at the dinner on April 22nd, starting with happy hour at 6pm at Dellwood Country Club.  If you haven't gotten an invite, send me an email to me at: 
 

Reminder of the Alum Treatment Public meeting at White Bear Lake City Hall this Thursday evening

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Regards,
Jim Moore