It's All About The Water
Posted by Steve Frazier
Our Meeting on July 13th was a presentation by our own member, Dick Osgood. He covered a great deal of information on a number of items and left a great deal of time for questions, and there were many! Dick is the president of the Lake Minnetonka Association, and has his degrees in lake environmental work.
He first commented on the LMCD and their current focus on banning "rip rap". There are two methods of preserving shoreline. "Hard armoring" involves placing large rocks as a wall against water damage to the shoreline; this process is called riprap, and is seen all around the lake. The LMCD is considering a ban on further use of rip rap, opting instead for "soft armoring". This is the type of shoreline that involves the use of native plants as natural filters instead of rock, and is more in keeping with the way the lakeshore was originally. Properties currently using riprap would be allowed to continue with the hard armoring, but future use of riprap would be banned except by permit.
A move to restrict the size of docks is proposed; docks damage the environment because of the shadows they create in the water according to proponents. Dick seems to think that this is not a valid reason to limit dock size, but there are other reasons to place limits that have merit.
The DNR fees are increasing for any permits or hearings, and the DNR is not an easy group to get a variance or permit from. Rather than examine the merits of a case, they seem to delay a decision until the last minute, and then issue a permit with an expiration date that has already passed.
Herbicides are being used in Minnesota to control weeds in lakes, and most of the use is illegal. In Lake Minnetonka, three bays have been treated for Eurasian Milfoil, and two of the bays treated were successful with a reduction of the weed; the other had some outside issues that affected the results and was not a successful treatment program.
The next invasive plant to worry about is Flowering Rush, which already has been found in a couple of bays.
Dick was asked to envision the lake 500 years ago, and he pictured a shoreline barely visible from a dozen yards away. Natural vegetation was so thick that you almost had to be standing in the lake to see it. The shoreline was mushy and not defined as it is now by our society. (Story by Tad Shaw and posting and photo by Steve Frazier.)
He first commented on the LMCD and their current focus on banning "rip rap". There are two methods of preserving shoreline. "Hard armoring" involves placing large rocks as a wall against water damage to the shoreline; this process is called riprap, and is seen all around the lake. The LMCD is considering a ban on further use of rip rap, opting instead for "soft armoring". This is the type of shoreline that involves the use of native plants as natural filters instead of rock, and is more in keeping with the way the lakeshore was originally. Properties currently using riprap would be allowed to continue with the hard armoring, but future use of riprap would be banned except by permit.
A move to restrict the size of docks is proposed; docks damage the environment because of the shadows they create in the water according to proponents. Dick seems to think that this is not a valid reason to limit dock size, but there are other reasons to place limits that have merit.
The DNR fees are increasing for any permits or hearings, and the DNR is not an easy group to get a variance or permit from. Rather than examine the merits of a case, they seem to delay a decision until the last minute, and then issue a permit with an expiration date that has already passed.
Herbicides are being used in Minnesota to control weeds in lakes, and most of the use is illegal. In Lake Minnetonka, three bays have been treated for Eurasian Milfoil, and two of the bays treated were successful with a reduction of the weed; the other had some outside issues that affected the results and was not a successful treatment program.
The next invasive plant to worry about is Flowering Rush, which already has been found in a couple of bays.
Dick was asked to envision the lake 500 years ago, and he pictured a shoreline barely visible from a dozen yards away. Natural vegetation was so thick that you almost had to be standing in the lake to see it. The shoreline was mushy and not defined as it is now by our society. (Story by Tad Shaw and posting and photo by Steve Frazier.)