PRIVATE WEED SPRAYING

•  Poor water quality is nothing new, and our local water problems didn’t just pop-up last year. It’s been around for a very long time. 
• One sign of the lakes’ poor water quality is the green slime that collects along your lakeshore.
• In the 1970s, motorboat props could whip up a trail of soap bubbles that congregated into flotillas of foam. Laundry detergent was the principal source of phosphorus affecting our lakes. 

Think of phosphorus as plant food because it makes a primary ingredient in fertilizer, along with potash and nitrogen. Phosphorus is essential for forming cell membranes in all living things. Plants and animals need phosphorus to grow.

• Excess phosphorus in the soil leaches into our waterways. Harmful algae blooms may be created when a surge of nutrients feeds the ever-present cyanobacteria (aka blue-green algae, which is deadly to wildlife and pets). When too much phosphorus in water and conditions are ripe, harmful algae blooms can occur. Even ordinary healthy algae will bloom to excess levels and will consume oxygen when decomposing leading to oxygen depletion and fish kills.

• Farm and lawn fertilizer
• Animal waste
• Yard clippings
• Wastewater
• Septic systems
• Soil erosion – no buffer along the lake shore causing the shore to wash into the lake

Adding to the phosphorus problem is “internal loading,” which are the sediments on the lake bed formed from decaying plants and animals over many years. Large boat motors and wind, which can cause waves that churn up the silty bottom of the lake, as well as the feeding activities of fish, especially carp, will reintroduce phosphorus that had settled on the bottom.

There is no silver bullet or single solution to the phosphorus problem; however, following best practices will help lead to a solution.

• Adding rain gutters
• Restoring your shoreline to natural habitat – adding plants to your rip rap
• Keeping yard waste out of the lake
• Keeping domestic and farm animal waste out of the streams and lake
• Make sure your old nonfunctional septic tanks are caped or removed
• Don’t drain your wastewater or sewage into the lake or near the lake when camping
• Eliminate soil erosion by planting a buffer at the shoreline with trees, bushes, and native plants
• Help by eliminating big waves from motorboats that stir up the lake bottoms.   
• Wake boats tear the bottom of the lakes, large motorboats, and personal watercraft can damage shorelines. Make every effort to stay 300 ft. from the shoreline.
• Reduce or eliminate hard surface run-off from roads, roofs and driveways
• Planting rain gardens:

 Since 2013 the Snake River Watershed Management Board has completed erosion and pollution control projects, which have reduced phosphorous pollution to the snake river system by 29,000 lbs. per year.

For more detailed information, check out the links in “Resources”:

Resources

Water quality data for Minnesota lakes and streams

Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy

Harmful algal blooms

Living Green yard and garden tips

Phosphorus in wastewater

Fertilizers (MN Dept. of Agriculture)

Our Minnesota Climate