Tips and tales about keeping water clean
This week, Brown’s Creek Watershed District begins work on a stream restoration project designed to reduce bank erosion and improve habitat for fish along a half-mile stretch of water that flows between McKusick Ave. and the Brown’s Creek State Trail.
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Currently, only 8% of the lakes in Minnesota have invasive species present and we need everyone’s help to keep it that way.
If you use waders or hip boots when fishing, be sure to clean off any visible aquatic plants, animals, and mud when you’re done and use a stiff brush to scrub the bottom of your boots where mud gets stuck in the treads. Using non-felt soled boots will further reduce the risk of spreading AIS.
It is also important to dispose of unwanted bait, worms, and fish parts in the trash instead of throwing them in the water or on the shore.
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“Unfortunately, we’re seeing more and more people removing the vegetation along their shorelines and it’s causing a chain reaction in the aquatic food web that’s affecting fish, as well as insects and other wildlife.”
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From 2016 to 2023, the number of inspected watercraft In Washington County with drain plug violations dropped from 7% to 1%. This is an indication that watercraft inspections and AIS education programs are working.
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Minnesota gained roughly 43,000 acres of wetlands statewide between 2006 and 2020. Wetland health varies greatly across the state, however, and some types of wetlands are more at risk.
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Communities across the Twin Cities are currently waging a battle against time, as they work to curb the flow of salt into lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater before it’s too late.
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The Mill Stream powered Minnesota’s first commercial saw mill and gave rise to the community of Marine on St. Croix in 1839 –two full decades before Minnesota became a state. Now, nearly 200 years later, the people of Marine are beginning to dream about a new future for this tiny but beloved stream.
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As much as we like to focus on the biggest and the best, however, roughly 70% of Minnesota’s lakes are actually considered natural environment lakes, a shoreland classification that is generally applied to shallow lakes with limited capacity to absorb the impacts of development and recreational use.
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How can you determine if your favorite local lake is safe for fishing and swimming? Though water quality data is collected and updated regularly, finding the information online isn’t terribly intuitive.
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This fall, the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District (CLFLWD) will be conducting an alum treatment on Forest Lake to address phosphorus in the lake bottom sediments that contribute to algae growth. Alum (potassium aluminum sulfate) is a nontoxic compound that is also used for drinking water clarification.
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East Metro Water 