Water quality workshops to focus on landowner participation

Water quality workshops will be offered in the county later this month. That’s important because many households draw their water from our pristine lakes, not to mention the thousands who fish, swim and recreate in our waters.

According to Biz Clark, chair of the Cook County Coalition of Lake Associations, the workshops will identify three major threats to our lakes.

“First of all, aquatic invasive species, which is a problem throughout the state. There’s been some new legislation promulgated this year by the legislature. We’re going to focus on that legislation and we’re going to focus on what people can do to at least keep as many of these invasive species out of our lakes as much as possible.
 
“The second thing is impaired septic systems. The county has been working on an ordinance that will better regulate design and construction of septic systems.
 
“The third thing is poor lakeshore management. We’re concerned what lakeshore property owners are doing on their property, because what they do, do will impact the lakes.”

Clark said lakeshore owners should pay special attention to planting buffer zones between their cabins or homes and the shoreline.

“We’re really encouraging people to plant buffers and to minimize lawn mowing – and please don’t use any fertilizers.”

Soil and Water, the lake associations and Tofte-Schroeder Sanitary Sewer District are sponsoring two workshops to address these concerns. Ilena Berg is the county’s Water Plan Coordinator.

“The first workshop is down for the West-enders on August 25th from 3 to 6 and there is no cost for these workshops, they’re free, so we encourage everyone to come. It’s done at the Schroeder Town Hall. The other one will be August 26th from 9 to noon at the Congo Church.

“Both of them will cover the same information, so if you can’t make one, hopefully you can make the other. It’s a great way to be educated on keeping our waters clean, learning how to pass it on to your children, grandchildren – it’s just a great opportunity for our community.”

Clark said lake association presidents met recently to assess progress made by landowners, and it looks like lakeshore stewardship is taking hold.

“One of the interesting things is as the state faces severe budget cuts, we also find that we have lost a lot of DNR personnel, the kinds of people who would be out monitoring lakes – they’re not available. So who is there to watch what’s going on in the lakes? It’s the lakeshore property owner. They have to be the eyes and the ears of our lakes.”

Berg said the county’s Soil and Water District has volunteers to help keep track of water quality. She said it’s the third time they’ve been funded for the project.

“We are monitoring this summer, 10 different lakes in the county and we rely heavily on our wonderful volunteers who go out once a month and they go out and measure the temperature, the secchi depth.

“So they’re checking to see how clear the water is, and it does fluctuate through the year because in the summer we get a lot of light and towards the end of summer it’s going to be a little less. If you’re starting to see a significant change, that’s an issue. We also look for chlorophyll A and we look for phosphorus. Chlorophyll A has to do with algae blooms and so does phosphorus.”

She said that over time water quality is being maintained for the most part in most lakes. If a lake’s quality starts to slip, her office is aware of it because of the work of lakeshore owners and monitor volunteers.

The two water quality workshops are Thursday, August 25 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Schroeder Town Hall and on Friday, August 26 from 9 a.m. until noon at First Congregational Church in Grand Marais.