Great water clarity and beautiful sunsets to kick start the summer months.

I'm sure you have all noticed the continued clarity of the lake.  My last Secchi disk reading was two weeks ago at 12 1/2'.  Mike Doran just measured 16' near the north sailing buoy!  So nice to see.

The debris that was on my beach earlier this year has melted away, consumed by the lake.

It is the season for battling the Purple Loosestrife invasion.  As I said in an earlier email, we are going to be collecting beetles at White Bear Pkwy and Hwy 96 at 9 am Saturday (6/6) and then dispersing them to the large infestations.  We can use your help.  Contact Tom Weyandt at: weyandt12@msn.com.

We will also be investigating controlling the invasion with chemicals this year.

There are a few interesting articles on Lake Management that I have read recently: Zebra Mussels and Lake Management: What Works.

We've had a few beautiful sunsets.  Here are the best of my collection this spring.

(You can click on a photo to see a larger image.)

No other news to report.  Enjoy the season.

Regards,

Jim Moore

Spring has sprung along with lots of debris in the water from spring storms

A mess on our shoreline
Well, these past rains and hail have really created a mess on my shoreline this week.  It appears that the hail broke off the tops of the old brown cattails and now they are deposited on our shoreline, along with the a significant amount of the fall leaves that washed up in the spring winds.  The mess is probably 15' wide.  I think the hail storm also washed a lot of nutrients into the water with all the stripped leaves and small branches.  There is quite a bit of the green slim mixed in with it, which I hadn't seen all spring.  This is probably the worst spring for organic material on our shoreline that I have seen in 17 years.  I have never seen cattail segments before.

Interesting article on water quality
A long time friend of mine, Dick Osgood, is a retired fresh water biologist.  He helped manage lakes on the west side of town, including Minnetonka.  He also writes a blog about lake issues.  I found his latest blog entry to be very interesting.  Here's the link.

Basically, the article states that the only way to really improve the water quality of a lake is to use Alum.  Cleaning up the inflow will not clean it up in our lifetime.  Once the phosphorous is in the lake, it just keeps giving.

Speaking engagment
On Tuesday of this week, I spoke in Burnsville at the Crystal Lake Association meeting.  They have similar issues to us (Curly Leaf, lots of weeds, green water) and their current president, Greg Klaus, thought their members would be interested in hearing our story.  Their members/residents asked lots of questions and were appreciative of my visit.  It was nice to see another association taking charge of their lake.

Tonight's the night!

If you're interested in getting to know some of your neighbors, the Full Moon group, which also does the bonfire the Saturday before the Super Bowl, has their regular gathering at the north sailing bouy, which is north of the island.  If it's a nice night, you will see several pontoons tied up together well into the night.  Just bring a treat to share.  People start to gather at around dusk.

Have a great weekend,

Jim

Annual Meeting

Greetings!

We had our annual meeting last week with a presentation by Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) and Steve McComas of Blue Water Science.  Thanks to everyone in attendance.  Glad you could make it.

Tom Weyandt was nice enough to record meeting minutes.  The following is from Tom, with minor edits by me.

Bald Eagle Area Association Annual Meeting    2-5-15

Approximately 25 members were present.

President Jim Moore announced that an attempt will be made to control purple loosestrife on the lake using beetles collected from a wetland near Highway 96 and White Bear Parkway and chemicals for smaller areas.  We may be looking for volunteers to assist with the treatment.

Rice Creek Watershed District represented by Matt Kocian and Jessica Bromelkamp

1. Alum Treatment first application completed successfully.  Life expectancy of the treatments is 20 years with dramatic increases in length if phosphorous additions to the lake are cut.  It could extend to 50-100 years depending on how significant the phosphorous additions are cut.
2. A second Alum application will be done in 2016, with the expectation the it will extend the life of the full treatment.
3. Phosphorus and Chlorophyll A are below maximum limits for first time in recorded history.  Secchi disc reading mean was 1.7 meters.
4. Aquatic Invasive Species - 92 acres treated for Curly-leaf pondweed with a cost of $30,600.  Small patch of flowering rush found on the northwest side of the lake north of the West Oaks dock and mechanically removed by RCWD.  No zebra mussels found yet in the lake.
5. Oneka Ridge Golf Course project completed and will be operational in 2015
6. Dam Replacement will likely take place in late 2015.

Rain Garden assistance with design and up to 50% funding are available from the RCWD.

Steve McComas - Blue WaterScience

1. Explained the survey methods for determining locations and density of Curly-leaf pondweed patches and described treatment.
2. Advised that there was a bit of an increase in natural vegetation in the lake and how he expects it to expand from current 8 foot max depth to 11 or 12 feet in the next few years.
3. Explained that there will be a period of increased vegetation in the water due to the increased water clarity.  There will be a 2 -3 year cycle to this and then eventually equilibrium will return with expectations that the vegetation will be less robust.

Annual Bald Eagle Tree Burning Party this Saturday 12/31.

Hear ye, Hear ye

Come one, come all.

The annual tree burning party is about to happen this coming weekend.  The party starts at 8 pm.  The fire is started at 11 pm.

In order to make this successful, we need 30 volunteers on Saturday, starting at 10 am, to build the tree tower and set up the party area.  We are usually done with setup by 4:30-5:00 pm.  Come when you can and leave early if you have to.

Weather willing, we'll have an ice bar with shots of liqueurs at the asking.  Bring a bottle of liqueur to share.  We have fire rings to keep you warm.  Lots of lights to light up the party area.

Bring your friends, neighbors, relatives.  It's the best party of the year.  Everything happens on the ice in the Hobie neighborhood bay in the NW part of the lake.

Most years, I drive on the ice to the party.  It looks like this year we'll be able to do the same.

Hope you can make both the setup and the party.

Scenes from past years.

December update

Season's Greetings,

It's been a while since my last update.  Our lake neighbors John Cretzmeyer and Barb Jacobson have been in print lately for their extravagant Christmas lights.  This is their last year.  If you haven't driven past their house on the west side of the lake in the last 10 years, you need to do it. It is spectacular.

I took this photo a few years ago.

(click on photo to enlarge)

The White Bear Lake water level lawsuit appears to have taken the next step.  The city of White Bear Lake still needs to sign off at their next council meeting.  Funding is going to be interesting.  Lots of money involved.  Basically, the agreement is to use the Mississippi River for the water source, instead of city wells.  The state legislature needs to deal with the funding.  The latest from the Press Publication is here.

I had an interesting discussion with lake resident Ted Jagger about the WBL water level problem.  Many of you may remember a few years ago that there was a company tasked with running a sewage treatment pipe past Bald Eagle Lake.  In the process, they ran into a lot of water that they had to pump out.  In the end they pumped literally billions of gallons of water (up to 4,000 gallons a minute) out of the watershed and into the storm water system.  To both of us, this seems to have coincided with a significant drop in the water level on White Bear Lake.  It was in the news in the beginning of all of this discussion, but it seems to have fallen off the radar. See this article in the Pioneer Press from 2011 (written by John Brewer). (John's parents live on the lake.)  Will White Bear Lake recover, since there is no longer any pumping in this manner?  Time will tell. I hope so.  It's a treasure for our community.

In the end, though, the DNR believes that we have a long term problem of over using the watershed and it is best to begin the process of moving to surface water for our water source.

The Bald Eagle Island house made the news this week, also, but not because of the development.  Apparently three young (16, 14, 13) teenage delinquents were involved.  This is the second break-in in the last year.  From Hans Stachowiak:  "I was present when the police arrested them, there were no regrets, no"sorry" to hear from the kids, the level of violence and damage was unbelievable. We needed three days to repair and clean up the house."

The son of a friend of Nick & Jane is now living there to help prevent future occurrences.

As far as the island development is concerned, Hans' next hurdle is a planning commission meeting on Wednesday, December 17 at 7:00pm at Heritage Hall to discuss the needed variances and Conditional Use Permit.

The RCWD has a new newsletter.  We still don't know who will replace Harley Ogata on the board.  They might have made a decision at yesterday's meeting.

If any of you are interested in getting a 2015 calendar of Bald Eagle Lake sunsets taken by me last year, I have put together a collection of photos and put it out on Lulu.com for anyone to purchase.  It is a large high quality calendar and I am pretty much offering it for pennies mark-up.

Here is a sample of the pictures included.

(click on photo to enlarge)

Have a great time with family and friends over the holidays.

Regards,
Jim

Zebra Mussels in White Bear Lake

I forgot to mention in my last blog post information that I received from Matt Kocian of RCWD earlier this month.

Hi Jim,

As I’m sure you've heard, zebra mussels were found in White Bear Lake this fall.  Based on the spatial distribution (found at multiple locations around the lake), it’s likely that the introduction occurred 1 or more years ago.  This is the first time that zebra mussels have been found in the RCWD.  I expect DNR will continue boat inspections at both White Bear and Bald Eagle to prevent the spread of zebra mussels via boat.  However, it’s also important for lake shore owners to be vigilant about docks, lifts, and other lake shore equipment.  The DNR has some info for lake residents here:  http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/shoreland_owners.html. 

Thanks

Matt

Update on the Island development and Dam development

Regarding the Dam project and according to the Hugo City Council Meeting of Nov 3rd:

1. Total project cost = $640K
2. Grant received from MNDOT = $252K
3. MN DNR has agreed to a grant = $160K
4. Remaining cost of $228K to be split between the RCWD and Hugo.
5. RCWD has committed to $113K.
6. Hugo to attempt to get funding from St Paul Water Utility and communities surrounding the lake.
7. This was approved by the Hugo City Council at this meeting.

So, that's great news.  I suspect that we will see construction begin after the water goes down next spring.  It is probably too optimistic to think that it will take place this winter.  Time will tell.

Island project

The island project has been approved by the Township board.  It will now move to the planning commission for further discussions and approvals.  The White Bear Press has an article in today's paper on the meeting and decision.

'Tis the end of my sunset photos for the season. I have collected all of my sunset photos for 2014 and placed them in an online album on them on Flickr if you would like to view them.

Have a great day,

Jim