Annual Lake Minnewashta Annual Meeting, Pot Luck Dinner and Garage Sale – 9/27/15

  • Date: Sunday 9/27/15
  • Time: 4-7pm
  • Place: Camp Tanadoona, Tanadoona Drive, Chanhassen

The Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association is hosting its Annual Meeting, Pot Luck Dinner and Lake Garage Sale. This is a great opportunity to get together with your neighbors and meet new lake neighbors. There will also be a short meeting of the LMPA to wrap up 2015 and make plans for 2016.

We hope you join us. This event will take place rain or shine. We will be in the dining hall at Camp Tanadoona.

Picnic: Hot Dogs will be provided. Please bring something to share and BYOB. There may also be some beer provided by Excelsior Brewing Company.

Garage Sale: This will be an opportunity to get rid of your unwanted lake equipment and toys, and for other folks to get some good deals on some new (used) toys. For larger items, please bring a picture. A 20% contribution from any sale is suggested to the LMPA or you can donate the entire sale towards the LMPA as a contribution towards our water quality management program.

Please RSVP (so we have an idea of how many hot dogs we will need) to Helen Gunther @ Phone: 612-986-4073 Email: hgunther57@gmail.com

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Save the Date – Annual Meeting & Picnic is Sunday 9/27 at 4PM

The Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association’s Annual Meeting and Pot Luck Dinner is set for Sunday, September 27th. It will be held at Camp Tanadoona (3300 Tanadoona Drive) from 4PM to 7PM. We’ll grill up some hot dogs for you but please bring a beverage and a dish to share. Come and visit with your neighbors and learn about what’s happening on the lake!

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2nd Annual Camp Tanadoona Volunteer Day on Saturday, September 26

Help keep the water around Lake Minnewashta clean and plan to volunteer at the 2nd annual Tanadoona Volunteer Day on Saturday, September 26. Families are welcome (we’ll have projects for youth ages 6+).

Tanadoona Volunteer Day
Saturday, September 26
1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Camp Tanadoona

Be part of the #Next100 taking action in 2015 at Tanadoona’s Volunteer Day!
Join Camp Fire and Greater Twin Cities United Way for an afternoon outdoors helping to protect the natural beauty of Tanadoona. Please register in advance.

Everyone is welcome!
We’ll have age appropriate activities for youth ages 6-10, while adults and youth ages 10 and up will help remove buckthorn, spread woodchips, paint, and more.

Buckthorn’s rapid growth creates a canopy over soil preventing natural vegetation from growing. This project is aimed at reducing erosion and ultimately improving area water quality thanks to funding provided by the RBC Blue Water Project.

This year’s event not only supports Camp Tanadoona and Lake Minnewashta’s water quality, but also United Way’s #Next100 campaign – which celebrates 100 years of United Way in the Twin Cities. United Way is a great partner of Camp Fire. In addition to Camp Fire leadership, United Way’s Sarah Caruso (CEO) and Kate Mortenson (board member) will be on hand to thank volunteers!

We’d appreciate registrations by September 18. See details and register at www.campfiremn.org/volunteer

 

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Highway 5 closure between Waconia and Victoria extended to late September

During road construction things don’t always go as planned. The construction on Hwy 5 between Waconia and Victoria is no exception.

The completion window for the work is now late September/ early October instead of early September.

We know school is starting soon! We do not anticipate any detours for the buses, but they will likely be traveling on gravel though as crews continue to reconstruct the road.

For more info

Visit: mndot.gov/metro/projects/5waconia/
Contact: Email Kirsten Klein at kirsten.klein@state.mn.us or call 651-234-7506.

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Carver County Watercraft AIS De-contamination unit now available at Waconia’s North Access.

A decontamination unit is now available at Lake Waconia’s Northeast Public Access. Boaters found to have aquatic invasive species (AIS) on their watercraft or equipment during an inspection can use the de-contamination unit to clean their boat or equipment. It’s a voluntary process but according to state law, watercraft found with AIS must be decontaminated before launching. Further, watercraft exiting Lake Waconia deemed to be a high risk for zebra mussel transfer will also be targeted for decontamination. The process depends on the type of AIS found and the type of boat. It generally involves spraying the watercraft with hot water to remove attached AIS, and possibly flushing the outside and inside of the boat.

The unit will be available till September 13th, 2015 on Mondays through Thursdays from 4:00pm to 7:00pm and Fridays through Sundays from 6:00am to 7:00pm.

The County is also beginning a tagging program. Boaters who go through the decontamination process will be given a tag. If this tag is still intact when they arrive at another Carver County boat access, they will receive an expedited inspection service. If no inspector is present they simply clip the tag and launch. This tagging service is only valid at public accesses within Carver County

Questions can be directed to Carver County Parks Department at 952-466-5250.

http://www.co.carver.mn.us/parks/

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Is Mille Lacs a Harbinger of the Future? The Impact of Aquatic Invasive Species.

Below is a newsletter sent to me by Jeff Forester, Executive Director of Minnesota Lakes & Rivers Advocates (MLR). The LMPA is a donor and member of this group.  

As you all know, yesterday on Monday August 4th at 10:00 P.M. the MN DNR closed walleye fishing on Lake Mille Lacs in and effort to protect the resource.

The impact of the walleye fishery collapse on the resorts and related businesses from restaurants, gas stations, bait shops, and the impact on property values surrounding the lake are devastating. Gov. Mark Dayton is considering holding a special session during which he will ask the Minnesota Legislature to make $20 million in low or no interest loans to help carry the businesses through the year.

Public discussion has focused on MN DNR management through slot limits, predation of zero to two year old walleye by muskies, northern, bass and cormorants; and tribal harvest (in a surprise move the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe will forego the remainder of their harvest this year and next in an effort to protect the resource).

What is missing from the discussion is the impacts of zebra mussels, introduced into the lake in 2005, and spiny waterflea in 2009. Both species remove different parts of the base of the food chain, food that young walleye need. The current biomass of walleye is estimated at 2 million pounds, the zebra mussel biomass is estimated at 2 BILLION pounds. The zebra mussels are filtering all of the water in Mille Lacs more than once a day.

The current discussion of $20 million in aid to the area underscores the reality that preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species is far cheaper than coping with the impacts of these invaders after the fact.

Spiny waterflea, which arrived in 2009, are predators removing another portion of the food chain, zooplankton, creating cascading effects in the aquatic food web (i.e., less food for perch, small walleyes, and other species and species life stages). If the population and impacts are great enough, research suggests that young walleyes could grow more slowly, which could result in poorer overwinter survival in the first winter of life.

Jones said that he is seeing dramatic declines in zooplankton in Mille Lacs. “It is changing faster than we can detect changes.” There has been a rapid decline in walleye numbers from 2010, following spiny waterflea introduction to Mille Lacs. Said Jones, “It makes sense that zebra mussels and spiny waterflea are having an impact – they dynamically alter the food web.”

MN Senator Carrie Rudd, whose district includes the northern end of Mille Lacs, was recently quoted in an August 4th MPR story, “… you have to address the zebra mussels.”

Mille Lacs was one of the first inland lakes infested with zebra mussels. It was an early victim of spiny waterflea in 2009. It is the only inland lake in Minnesota infested with both. While it is difficult to document a direct cause and effect in a dynamic and complex lake system, there is no doubt that the combination of these two aquatic invasive species are having a significant impact on the current collapse, and that these two species will make any recovery more difficult and less robust.

Dave Orrick, Pioneer Press, details the compound impacts Mille Lacs AIS are having on the walleye population. As this Star Tribune article points out, other walleye lakes like Vermilion are teetering. Walleye fishing on the west end of the lake is far below historic levels, Vermilion was also designated as infested with spiny waterflea this summer.

This raises the question, is Minnesota ready to bail out each lake that collapses due to the combined and interacting pressures, including aquatic invasive species? Are we willing to adjust our expectations and live with the negative impacts of zebra mussels, spiny waterflea and other aquatic invasive species, to switch from walleye fishing to bass fishing, muskie fishing or even cat fishing? Are we willing to watch out of state anglers tow boats (and recreation dollars) through the state, bound for areas that took the threat of AIS more seriously than Minnesota has, areas that chose to protect their resource and are able to enjoy the return on those investments.

I think Minnesota is better than that.

MLR members are working across the State to stop the spread of AIS. We were the lead organization supporting the creation of Minnesota’s local, annual $10 million County AIS Prevention Aid program, and one of the organizers and sponsors of last year’s Aquatic Invaders Summit that brought together over 400 stakeholders from 56 counties to develop a Local AIS Action Framework. MLR and partner MN COLA advocated and pushed for the creation of $4.5 million to fund pilot projects for innovation in stopping the introduction and spread of AIS. Requests for Proposals for that grant program are now open with letters of initial inquiry due September 15th.
We will continue to advocate for stronger AIS laws at the State Legislature, and stronger and more urgent action from the MN DNR on the AIS issue. Thanks for all the work you do on behalf of our lakes, and please stay in touch,

Jeff Forester
Executive Director
Minnesota Lakes & Rivers Advocates (MLR)
952-854-1317
jeff@mnlakesandrivers.org

 

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