As you may know, on August 18th, during a routine weekly check, four zebra mussels were found under one of the two piers at the Carver Parks boat launch on Lake Minnewashta. The following day, a team of people inspected a broader area of “Little Minnie” as well as 8 other areas of the lake. Ten additional zebra mussels were found near the launch but none were found beyond the public access.
A plan of attack has been developed with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, Carver County, the Department of Natural Resources and the Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association. The MCWD’s Aquatic Invasive Species Program Manager, Eric Fieldseth, is serving as the leader of the effort. Here is where we are at:
1. Carver Park’s Boat Access #1 was closed and Boat Access #2 was opened.
2. Two containment barriers were purchased and installed by Carver County in Little Minnie by Boat Launch #1.
3. An eradication plan was developed and approved by all parties including the DNR. A well known copper-based algaecide, Earthtec QZ, will be applied in a 0.5 parts-per-million dosage. Click on http://www.earthtecqz.com/index.htm for more information. Treatment is tentatively scheduled to begin next Tuesday, September 13th at 10:00 am. Additional treatments will occur throughout the duration of the project as needed to maintain our desired concentration. Duration of treatment is predicted to take between 8 to 14 days depending upon zebra mussel mortality results. MCWD staff will be monitoring the treatment and coordinating applications throughout the project.
4. Once the zebra mussels have been eradicated, remove the containment barriers and reopen Boat Access #1.
5. Continue monitoring Little Minnie as well as our 10 existing monitoring stations around the lake to assure that zebra mussels are fully eradicated. Residents who currently have monitoring plates in place should check them immediately and report any findings to the MCWD and Steve Gunther.
A lot of people have been working very well together in making this happen. The very capable leaders of the team are Eric Fieldseth from the Watershed District and Drew Dickart from Carver County’s Aquatic Invasive Species program. The LMPA offers them and the entire team our hearty thanks.
As to funding for this project, the MCWD, Carver County and the LMPA each are sharing in the costs. As of this writing, the county has spent $10,000 and committed another $5,000, the MCWD has committed about $10,000, and the LMPA has committed $15,300. Eric Fieldseth had good results convincing the material supplier to cut our costs significantly.
Stay tuned and when a request for donations is made, please give generously.
Keep in touch – Be sure to give us your email address so we can add you to our electronic newsletter distribution. Or check our website at www.lakeminnewashta.org. And join our Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association Facebook group! Or tweet with us @lakeminnewashta. Or email us at info@lakeminnewashta.org
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions or comments about things we are or are not doing. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!
Steve Gunther
President, Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association
stgunther@gmail.com
612-859-3729
