Notice To Lake Minnewashta Property Owners and Lake Users:
As part of its ongoing effort to preserve and improve the water quality of Lake Minnewashta, the Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association (LMPA) will be contracting with a vendor to treat aquatic invasive plants in 2026. We wish to keep all of you well informed, and this is notice that we will be treating various areas of Lake Minnewashta for curly leaf pondweed in April or May of 2026.
The treatment is for Curly-leaf pondweed(CLP) which is an invasive plant that grows in the spring and early summer. The objective of the curly leaf pondweed treatment program is to treat the heaviest growth of CLP to improve the water quality and recreational use of the lake. Planned treatment sites will be approved by the DNR if they are 150 offshore feet or more. If the approved treatment sites are within 150 feet of your property, you can provide the following:
If you desire that the treatment not occur adjacent to your property (within 150 feet from shore), please notify Steve Gunther immediately either via phone, email or filling out and mailing the form below to the address below.
The DNR requires us to notify property owners of the treatment with this notice. The treatment methods will follow Department of Natural Resources’ guidelines and permit.
Carver County is currently hiring Seasonal AIS Watercraft Inspectors for the 2026 boating season, and we’re spreading the word within our lake community.
Inspectors play a critical role in protecting our lakes by educating boaters, conducting inspections, collecting survey data, and (at higher levels) performing decontaminations. These positions are a great opportunity for students, teachers, retirees, or anyone who enjoys being outdoors and supporting lake stewardship.
Positions run approximately May–September and pay $17–$22/hour depending on level and certification. They are especially looking for dependable individuals who are available on weekends and holidays throughout the season.
if you or anyone you know is interested in applying for a position, please click the link below
Strong inspection coverage is one of the most effective prevention tools we have, and having inspectors who care about our lake makes a real difference.
Thank you for helping us protect Carver County waters.
While there won’t be a community Fourth of July party in the park this year because we don’t have a volunteer(s) to lead it. Sarah Wells and Mary Pickering decided to still organize the Fourth of July t shirts so that we can make a community donation to the KABOOM fireworks. With the country’s 250th year anniversary, this is an extra special year for our nation. You can wear your Lake Minnewashta t shirts to the ski show and family gatherings.
Please submit you and or your kids designs for 2026 Fourth of July t-shirt!! DESIGN SUBMISSIONS DUE FEB 15th!!!!!
This winter will be the third since a new Minnesota state law prohibited leaving waste behind on frozen lakes, or even letting it touch the ice. The law can be enforced with a $100 fine, and officials say it’s working.
“From 2022 to 2024, the resorts, the businesses, the ice road businesses, said there’s a drastic difference in what they’re seeing. They know the program’s working. They’re all on board and joining,” said Zach Gutknecht, a project manager for the Northwest Watershed Division of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Groups are working on a local scale at more than 50 lakes across the state, taking different approaches most appropriate for their regions.
“It’s grassroots efforts working on a statewide level,” Gutknecht said.
The MPCA has supported the efforts, which included outreach and education, with grant money from the Clean Water Fund. Grants are available through BWSR and many SWCDs, made possible by a 2025 legislative appropriation specifically for Keep It Clean efforts.
Mike Hirst, a resource conservationist with the Lake of the Woods Soil and Water Conservation District, said during the 2024-2025 ice fishing season, conservation officers issued 311 tickets, with 81 citations and 230 warnings statewide.
A major upgrade to Highway 5 between Victoria and Chanhassen will get underway next year, disrupting traffic flow along the stretch for the better part of two years.
A contractor will be selected on Dec. 16 and will lead the expansion of Highway 5 to four lanes from just east of Highway 41 into downtown Victoria, a three-and-a-half-mile section of the highway. It will be a divided roadway with curb and gutter installed. Currently that stretch is a two-lane, rural roadway with shoulders and ditches.
According to Eric Johnson, Transportation Division leader with consultant Bolton & Menk, Inc., the daily traffic count along that stretch exceeds 20,000 vehicles.
“Generally, the tipping point for a two-lane is something like 15,000 to 18,000 cars a day, and then it’s over capacity,” Johnson reported. “We have backups every day during peak hours.”
Today, during the evening rush hour, it takes motorists an average of 24 minutes to travel from Interstate 494 to Victoria, according to Johnson.
“When we’re done with Highway 5, that trip will take 18 minutes,” Johnson said. “So, we’re going to have a 25% reduction in travel time on that trip, because there will no longer be a bottleneck from Highway 41 going west.”
He admitted that a new bottleneck will develop in downtown Victoria, but that issue will be corrected with planned projects in the future.
“We’re actively pursuing funding for this downtown segment to finish the vision,” Johnson said.
Among the extra features along Highway 5 are a roundabout at Commercial Avenue in Victoria; a new 78th Street pedestrian bridge; a new signal at Minnewashta Parkway; an upgrade for the Highway 41 intersection; and a pier-supported roadway through the Lake Minnewashta area wetlands.
To ensure the stability of Highway 5 through the Lake Minnewashta area, Johnson said the plan is to install hundreds of piers into the soil below. The original plan was to construct an 1,800-foot bridge through that area, but that idea proved too expensive.
Additional upgrades on adjacent roadways and trails are also part of the overall 2026-27 project — part of the master Arboretum Area Transportation Plan which seeks to address capacity issues in the growing southwest Twin Cities metro area.
Among those upgrades are a new intersection at Rolling Acres Road; Rolling Acres Road and Tamarack Trail roundabout; Rolling Acres Road improvements; and a new Rolling Acres Road and Interlaken roundabout.
Because Rolling Acres Road is the shortest access between Highway 5 and Highway 7, Johnson said the county road is heavily traveled.
“Over 85% of the people on that road are speeding,” he noted. “And the crash rate on that road is three times the state average for what we would expect. There’s a lack of turn lanes, there’s a lack of shoulders, there’s a lack of sight distance. When we are done, we’re trying to lower the speeds by design.”
Additionally, new pedestrian underpasses at Madelyn Creek Trail and Tamarack Trail will provide easier access to the trail system in the area.
“We’re adding a lot of missing trail links,” Johnson said. “We’re completing the network of trails — the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail, the Highway 5 Regional Trail, and all the trails in Chaska. I think it’s a big leap forward in connecting the non-motorized users in this area.”
In addition, the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is constructing a new entrance off of Highway 5 toward downtown Victoria.
Total cost of the Highway 5 project is expected to be about $122 million, according to Johnson. About $100 million is being paid for through various federal and state funding sources.
“We’ve secured eight federal and four state grants,” he said. “That’s quite amazing. We’ve minimized the actual cost to the local partners greatly.”
KEEPING TRAFFIC FLOWING
As construction kicks off next spring, Highway 5 will remain open to traffic at all times but will be limited to one lane in each direction at the Highway 41 intersection.
“That will cause some issues,” Johnson said, “but it will remain open.”
For all of 2026, crews will focus on getting the adjacent north/south portions of the overall project completed. Signed detours will guide motorists along the north/south routes.
All of the roadways will open back up for the 2026-27 winter season. Then, in the spring of 2027, Highway 5 will close to traffic as the expansion begins in earnest.
“Highway 5 — from the Arboretum entrance all the way to downtown Victoria — will be closed all summer in 2027,” he noted. Officials hope to have the roadwork in Victoria completed by the Fourth of July holiday. The remainder of Highway 5 is scheduled to be completed by Labor Day in 2027.
“There will be some cleanup work that spills into 2028, but two years from now, traffic should be fully functional on the new system,” Johnson said.
Carver County is planning to hold a public open house sometime in March 2026 to discuss the construction plans and expected detour routes with area residents. Follow the project website for more information.
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Carver County approved a transportation sales tax in 2017 to help fund needed projects as the population totals rose throughout the southwest metro area.
In 2019, Bolton & Menk, Inc. was competitively selected to work with the county on the Arboretum Area Transportation Plan, with a focus on Highway 5. The eventual plan was completed in 2021, identifying 20 major transportation projects along the corridor that should be completed over a 20-year period.
“We identified the system needs for the county to be able to serve all the growing demands in Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria and beyond,” Johnson said.
Once the study was finished, Bolton & Menk helped the county and local partners identify competitive funding sources and deliver about $175 million in revenue to accomplish the planned projects.
“I think Carver County has been a leader in some of the locally led projects,” Johnson said. “Everyone’s doing a part.”
The Chanhassen City Council has decided to move forward with a request to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to raise Lake Minnewashta’s Slow-No Wake (SNW) elevation — the water level at which strict boating restrictions apply — from 945.0’ to 945.5’.
The motion passed by a 5-0 vote at the council’s Nov. 10 meeting. After DNR approval, which requires a 120-day review period, the council will be able to adopt the modification to city code at a future meeting, before next summer’s boating season.
City Council’s action follows a Citizen Action Request received this year requesting to raise Lake Minnewashta’s SNW elevation to 945.9’, which is the lake’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year floodplain elevation. The FEMA 100-year floodplain of a lake maps the areas of that lake with a 1% annual chance of flooding, i.e. the floodplain expected to occur once in 100 years.
FEMA 100-year floodplains are not standard determinants of lakes’ SNW elevations, which are determined, according to a Chanhassen city staff report, “through analysis of site-specific conditions for each lake or water body, including shoreline characteristics, adjacent land use, vegetation, water level history, and the relationship to nearby infrastructure.”
Lake Minnewashta public boat launchSign at Lake Minnewashta public boat launch
Public input is another key factor to setting SNW elevations and is a legal requirement for modifying SNW restrictions in city code.
“Before a SNW restriction can be adopted or modified, DNR rules require that a public hearing be held to gather feedback from affected property owners, recreational users and other stakeholders,” says the report.
A public hearing was held during the City Council meeting, at which the council intended to discuss and evaluate an SNW elevation for Lake Minnewashta of 945.3’. More than 30 members of the public attended the hearing and 17 spoke.
The council had determined at a previous work session to dismiss the requested 945.9’ SNW elevation, citing city staff’s findings that street flooding would occur at this water level.
Mayor Elise Ryan, opening the public hearing, spoke on the council’s decision.
“The reason why,” Ryan said, “is if it got to the FEMA high-water mark, we’re not talking about boat wakes. We’re talking about flooding.”
Advocates of raising Lake Minnewashta’s SNW elevation argued that the lake’s current restrictions are too rigid.
“Summer is precious,” said Gary Bhojwani, who lives on Lake Minnewashta. “When we lose even one day, it’s a big deal. At the Slow-No Wake level we currently have, in the last two years, we lost 34 days.”
SNW restrictions have also been triggered by high water levels on the Fourth of July during the past two years, restricting lake use during peak season and impacting the annual waterski show.
According to an analysis completed by Chanhassen city staff on historical water level data, assuming the lake’s current SNW elevation of 945.0’, 10% to 12% of Lake Minnewashta’s boating season over the past 20 years would have fallen under SNW restrictions. The analysis determined that an SNW elevation of 945.3’, on the other hand, would only have triggered restrictions once in the last 20 years — during historic flooding in 2014 that surpassed the lake’s FEMA 100-year floodplain.
Those opposed to raising the SNW elevation raised environmental and property concerns.
“Minnewashta is a challenged lake — it’s impaired for aquatic life and it’s only a C+ lake,” said Kevin Zahler, a board member of the Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association, alluding to the lake’s “C+” DNR classification. “My hope is that my grandson, and his grandchildren, and their grandchildren will be able to enjoy the use of this lake. That’s at least a hundred years out. We’re not going in the right direction.”
Other residents spoke on impacts to lakeshore properties, especially vulnerable properties sitting on lots at lower elevations or with more gradual inclines.
“As much as I believe that everybody has rights and wants to play and do all this stuff,” said Helen Gunther, another resident on the lake, “it’s great, provided that the recreation that other people want to do doesn’t destroy or ruin the property that I have.”
Gunther raised concerns about SNW restriction enforcement — concerns voiced by many others at the hearing.
“What needs to go along with that No Wake restriction is some enforcement,” she said. “I cannot tell you how many times this past summer, during the days that there was No Wake, I saw boats and fishermen and surfers flying by.”
City staff later clarified that the Carver County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for SNW enforcement on Chanhassen’s area lakes.
“The city has no ability to do more enforcement,” said Charles Howley, director of Public Works. “If it’s a persistent problem, we should lobby the county to make more resources available to address the problem — easier said than done of course.”
Mayor Ryan requested that city staff find out from the Carver County Sheriff’s Office how often they were on Lake Minnewashta last summer, and how often they were on the lake during SNW restrictions.
During the following council discussion, Council Member Jerry McDonald proposed to consider a higher SNW elevation of 945.5’.
“The 945.3’ that we looked at seemed as though it would be a good number,” McDonald said. “But then, what I looked at is at 945.3’, we’ve hit that a number of times in the past couple of years, and that would have shut the lake down — and I don’t think that’s a good idea. What I would like to do is to propose 945.5’, because that gets us to a level where I don’t think you’re going to be impacted by the rise and fall of the lake.”
McDonald’s statement contradicts city staff’s findings that an SNW elevation of 945.3’ would have triggered SNW restrictions only once in the last 20 years.
Mayor Ryan and other council members spoke in support of either SNW elevation for Lake Minnewashta, 945.3’ or 945.5’.
“I think this is an enforcement problem,” Ryan said, “and that is what leads me to lean more towards 945.5’. … With 945.3’, I’m afraid that we’re going to put ourselves in a precarious situation again. 945.5’ gives a little more leeway to allow residents to utilize the lake at leisure, and I think that is a number that I would be comfortable with. I support either 945.3’ or 945.5’.”
McDonald made the motion that the City Council request the DNR’s approval to raise Lake Minnewashta’s SNW elevation to 945.5’, and furthermore motioned to reduce the SNW waiting period from three days to one — a measure the attending public generally supported. Council member Mark van Oven seconded the motion, and the motion passed 5-0.
