Waterworks Column Aitkin Independent Age 9/2/2009

IT STILL RAINS IN MINNESOTA

Looking at the foliage, the pastures, and the lake levels this summer, I take encouragement from the renewable water supply in this neck of the woods. We hear of drought, lack of rainfall, heat waves, and wild fires in other parts of the country. About a century ago my grandfather, living in dry Nebraska, saw advertisements for farmland in west central Minnesota. They read “It still rains in Minnesota!” And so it does. From our rain gauge, I recorded 7.9 inches in July and, lacking a couple days, 2.4 inches in August.

With much of the world looking at fresh water scarcity, in Aitkin County we have a resource advantage of plentiful wetlands, rivers, and lakes. Plus a spreading awareness of how to keep the quality of these water bodies safe and secure. One of the projects of our Water Planning Task Force is sponsorship of rain garden and rain barrel demonstrations. By containing and slowing the movement of pouring-down rains, these measures help prevent erosion and siltation. Work is now in progress at the Long Lake Conservation Center and at the Soil and Water Office, where you will be able to observe and receive instruction in better practices with rainfall where you live.

LAKE MONITORS GET REPORTS

Reports from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency have been published last month for sites at 1317 Minnesota lakes. In Aitkin County about 30 lakes have been regularly monitored in recent years. My individual Site Report for Nord Lake in 2008, and the preceding 11 years, is the most complete and easy to read of any lake information that I have seen.

To see what the status is on any of the monitored county lakes, the first call to make is to an officer or member of the particular lake association. Most of the 30 or so monitored lakes have volunteers who measure the transparency during the summer, and they receive this detailed report. Lake association members, in most cases, have access to the water data, which is shared around the lake.

If you need further assistance, the Soil and Water Office keeps water monitoring records and can direct you to the person who is currently measuring the clarity at each organized lake. Just call them at 927-6565.

In the case of Nord Lake, the clarity has been steady over 12 years with no trending, and the standards for recreational suitability are being met consistently.

How Clean is the Lake?

Minnesotans have proudly driven the “10,000 Lakes” license plates all over the continent. Now thousands of us have adopted the state bird, the Common Loon, to identify us as motorists from Lake Country. We’ve always assumed that there was plenty of clean, fresh water in our state. The Father of Waters starts here, occasionally flooding downstream cities and farms that occupy its acknowledged “flood plain.” So it comes as a shock when these pristine waters, that European settlers “discovered”, become contaminated, polluted, and clogged with clumps and blooms of dangerous algae. We read about fish kills when manure ponds from feedlots breach their dams.

MODERN WATER TREATMENT

Suburban developers buy off and take over natural open space to clear cut and bulldoze forest, farm fields, and wetlands to house the thousands who flock to the Cities for better paying jobs and for their cultural amenities. The rainfall on these made-over suburban communities runs downhill into ponds, streams, wetlands, rivers, and lakes. The roofs, asphalt driveways, decks, patios, and chemical lawns all add their ingredients into our once beautiful waters. To escape their routine of commuting, working, and schooling, the families search out a “lake place” for summer weekends. They bring their horticultural habits with them, as well as memories of winter vacations on the saltwater beaches in the Gulf of Mexico.

These Minnesota lake properties used to be the province of resort owners who offered weekly rentals with housekeeping cabins, a fishing boat, and a swimming beach.
Most of them have gone the way of the family farm, with only a few large Ruttgers or Craguns left, but quite a few RV campgrounds around the settled lakes. A large number of northbound folks decide to buy land. Pull up a house trailer and someday maybe build a cabin or retirement home. They may find vacant resort property for sale, with cabins that can be remodeled and enlarged. Everyone wants his own dock and sand beach. In this way the shoreline on many lakes is altered, and the lake water changes to not-so clear.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is asking for residents and users of lakes in Aitkin County to volunteer as “monitors” of the water quality in our lakes. Just because you have a lake association where you vacation or spend the summer doesn’t mean that there is a water monitor who measures the transparency or chemical composition of your lake. If somebody is doing this job, he or she would very much like to hear from you. You can listen to their water quality story and offer to help them take readings. Or you can receive training and become one of hundreds of Minnesota volunteers who are helping protect our lakes. It starts with a phone call ( 927-6565 ) to Janet Smude, who coordinates our Aitkin County Rivers and Lakes Fair and all of Aitkin County water testing.

- Gordon Prickett, Waterworks Columnist, Aitkin Independent Age