Tag: water quality

Whose permission do you need for shoreline work?

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Shoreline regulation guide: who to call for which action on your shore

We talk a lot about reclaiming natural shorelines, but you may not have a perspective on the permissions that you will need before you do the work.

This “Regulation Guide” (pictured above) was developed by Blue Thumb and it provides that perspective on approvals you need based on what you plan to do. Blue Thumb’s shoreline stabilization webpage has tabs with Planning, Design, Installation, and Maintenance considerations.

Blue Thumb is an educational program of Metro Blooms, a Minneapolis-based non-profit.

It’s AIS season. Ready, Set, Go!

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Check In - Check Out - images of cover pages of boat decontamination manual and AIS identification booklet

The open water boating season is here and many of your organizations are involved with AIS inspections, inspectors, and early detection activities. Here are a couple of things you may not know about which may help.

The Lake Tahoe watercraft decontamination manual is well-organized with 91 pages of photos and great content, including nearly 30 pages of manufacturer-specific decontamination considerations.

The MAISRC AIS identification guide contains tips for identifying a number of aquatic invasive species (AIS) that are considered high-risk to Minnesota waters, as well as some common native lookalike species. You can download it for free, buy the book, or become an AIS Detector and get the book — plus tons of hands-on training!

The free Check-In, Check-Out program was designed by our friends at CD3 to educate boaters on hand cleaning different types of watercraft and trailers. Simply place the Check-In, Check-Out QR code at a visible location at your boat launch. 

Test your private well every year

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test your well every year for coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, and manganese

Private wells produce 20% of Minnesota’s drinking water and serve a majority of waterfront property owners in the state. If you have a private well, you should know that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recommends you test for nitrates and coliform bacteria every year, especially if babies or young children are drinking your well water.

They have a webpage on private well testing that provides more details.

Regarding Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) – Even though MDH recently reported that 22 Minnesota water systems have PFAS levels above the new federal limits, they do not recommend that every private well is tested for PFAS. If you use a private well for drinking water that is included in an existing environmental investigation near a known source of contamination, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will notify you if your well might be affected. If you still want to test your private well for PFAS and are not a part of an MPCA environmental investigation, see the Testing your private well for PFAS section.

Harmful algal blooms: “When in doubt, stay out!”

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Harmful Algal Blooms

Algal blooms occur when tiny, naturally occurring plants grow rapidly in an area of water and are visible without a microscope. Not all algal blooms are toxic, but some are. Algal blooms capable of producing toxins dangerous to humans or animals are considered Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).

MN’s Pollution Control Agency has simple advice for algae blooms: “When in doubt, STAY OUT!”

Here is some great information:

MN DNR designates 12 more AIS

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Dense patch of lilies

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has classified 13 high-risk invasive aquatic plants, fish and invertebrates as prohibited invasive species. All but one (jumping worms) are AIS.

Here are the 13 new AIS: mitten crab, Nile perch, snakehead family, walking catfish family, yellow floating-heart, tench, golden mussel, marbled crayfish (marmorkrebs), golden clam, tubenose gobies (any fish belonging to the genus Proterorhinus), and eastern mosquitofish.

For more information on these new AIS, you can check out the DNR’s website.

Add your Point-Intercept data to MAISRC’s database

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UMN MAISRC logo

MAISRC is seeking your point-intercept (PI) aquatic plant survey data to add to their statewide database. If your lake or river association have done or are doing lake surveys and are using a point-intercept approach, please follow this link to get more information about the MAISRC database.

Vermont wakesports regulation moves a step closer

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drawing showing woman on a wakesurf board

Vermont ’s Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) recently filed its “Final Proposed Rule” for regulating wakesports on the state’s inland lakes under the heading “Final Rule Documents Submitted to LCAR.” The filing triggers another step in the process whereby the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) reviews the proposed rule. The Committee will be considering this proposed rule on February 1, 2024. If “adopted” the proposed rule will be filed with the secretary of State to become effective on the “effective date”.

The final version of the proposed rule retained the requirement for wake boarding to be done a minimum of 500’ from shore despite overwhelming public comments asking for a 1,000’ minimum. If the LCAR votes to adopt the rule, Vermont will have the most restrictive regulations in the country for wakesports. The final proposed rule includes a 500’ minimum distance from shore, a minimum depth of 20’, a ‘wakesports zone’ as having a minimum of 50 contiguous acres, and a “home lake” approach to help reduce the potential for wake boats to spread AIS from residual water in their ballast tanks.

Stay tuned!

Michigan releases new guides for shoreline improvement

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Michigan EGLE title block with a shoreline pictured on the right

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has developed a variety of new resources to assist individuals who want to improve their shoreline and learn more about bio-engineering and other inland lake best management practices. While Michigan’s regulations may be slightly different from Minnesota’s, the concepts for shoreline protection are the same, and anyone wanting to improve their shore can benefit from a review of this material.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has developed a variety of new resources to assist individuals who want to improve their shoreline and learn more about bio-engineering and other inland lake best management practices. These have recently been published on EGLE’s Shoreline Protection website.

Five new fact sheets: 

Six new documents have also been created with illustrations and corresponding plans to implement best management practices for shoreline protection and lake health.

Note: these documents are consistent with Michigan’s shoreline regulations. While Michigan’s regulations may be slightly different from Minnesota’s, the concepts for shoreline protection are the same, and anyone wanting to improve their shore can benefit from a review of this material.

Vanishing natural shorelines hurt lake quality

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Image of the front cover of the report

In June 2022, Paul Radomski from the MN DNR presented the ideas from this newly released paper at our MN COLA Annual meeting. This was one of the sessions in our Lake Resiliency series.

Now the Vanishing Natural Shorelines paper has been published and you can read the whole story of how the loss of natural shorelines contributes to the degrading of lake quality. Tom Nelson, MN COLA Secretary and Itasca County SWCD Board member, was a key contributor from MN COLA. We encourage you to read and disseminate this document.

As Steve Kloiber from the MN DNR has written: “The Minnesota Natural Shoreline Partnership was formed around the idea that regulatory approaches to shoreland protection have not been sufficient to stop the loss of natural shoreland. This group has chosen to focus on the idea that there is a need to change social norms around how people think of their shoreline.”

We should individually and collectively do everything we can to stop the loss of natural shorelines and reclaim lost shorelines. Let’s change the social norm so natural shorelines are preferred.