Pelican Group of Lakes

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What Shoreline Owners Need to Know
Moriya Rufer Lakes Program Coordinator RMB
Environmental Laboratories, Inc
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Seminar Outline

• The basics of lake water quality
• Biological indicators
• What individuals can do to protect their lake
• Water quality myths debunked

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Each Lake is Different
Geographic Location
Human Influences
Geology
Topography
Latitude, Longitude, Altitude
Sewage, Agric. Mining
Shape of Basin
Composition of Substrate
Climate
Primary Nutrients
Drainage Area
Depth
Area
Bottom
Precip.
Wind
Isolation
Nature of Bottom Deposits
Transparency
Oxygen Penet. Utilization
Development of Littoral Region
Light Penetration
Inflow of Allocthanous Material
Heat Penetration Stratification
Seasonal Cycle Circulation
TROPHIC NATURE OF THE LAKE PRODUCTIVITY
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Lake Monitoring

• Water quality measurements (basic MPCA
  Assessments)
• Total Phosphorus
• Chlorophyll a
• Water clarity (secchi depth)

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Phosphorus

• Limiting nutrient in lakes
• Means everything that plants and algae need to
  grow is available in excess (sunlight, warmth,
  water, nitrogen, etc.) except phosphorus
• Phosphorus is food for algae and plants
• Enters the lake from
• Agriculture - Improperly maintained septic
  systems
• Fertilizer - Boat motors in shallow areas
• Manure - Lake Sediment

If Phosphorus inputs to the lake are reduced, the
lake water quality can improve
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Chlorophyll-a

• The pigment that makes plants and algae green
• Measured in lakes to determine algal
  concentration
• Algae is important in lakes because it adds
  oxygen to the water as a by-product of
  photosynthesis. 
• On the other hand, if there is too much algae in
  a lake it can produce a foul odor and be
  unpleasant for swimming. 

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Secchi Depth

• A measurement of water transparency
• Transparency is how deep sunlight can penetrate
  through the water 
• Water transparency depends on the amount of
  particles in the water

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Relationships
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Relationships
These three measurements are used to monitor
Eutrophication in Lakes
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Eutrophication

• Eutrophication is a natural process that a lake
  goes through over thousands of years. 
• Natural eutrophication is also sometimes referred
  to as lake aging.

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Eutrophication

• Humans can speed up the process of eutrophication
  by adding excess nutrients and sediment quickly,
  where the lake will change trophic states in a
  matter of decades. 
• This type of eutrophication is called cultural
  eutrophication because humans cause it. 

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Phosphorus Exports
Feedlot 150 -450
Human Land Uses
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Phosphorus Exports
Feedlot 150 -450
Human Land Uses
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Lake Eutrophication
Oligotrophic
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Clean Water Indicators

• Another way to determine water quality
• In science, two explanations that come to the
  same conclusion are better than one
• Organisms reflect their environment and live
  there year round (in some form)
• If these clean water indicators are present now
  and gone tomorrow, youll know there has been a
  change in water quality

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Clean Water Indicators
Hexagenia mayfly These mayflies are filter
feeders found in the soft silt or sand of streams
and lakes. Because mayflies can't survive in
water that lacks oxygen, they are good indicators
of the amount of eutrophication (phosphorus).
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Clean Water Indicators
Common Loon Loons are diving birds that use their
eyesight to capture their food.

• They need
• clear water
• healthy fish populations
• undisturbed shorelines or islands with plenty of
  natural vegetation for nesting
• tall shoreline vegetation for protection of their
  young
• they are easily disturbed by excessive boat
  traffic and wakes, and are displaced by human
  residential activity

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Clean Water Indicators
Tullibee/Cisco Important forage species for the
lake's game fish. They need highly oxygenated
water to live. When lakes lose their Tullibee
populations, it can indicate increased
Eutrophication. The loss of Tullibee then
affects game fish populations because they are a
major food source.
North Long Lake Whitefish Lake
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DNR Lakefinder
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DNR Lakefinder
DNR Fisheries Report
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Clean Water Indicators
Freshwater Mussels Mussels filter oxygen and
particles from the water, cleansing the water in
the process and absorbing what they consume into
their bodies and shells. It is for these reasons
that mussels are sensitive to changes in their
environment and serve as indicators of the health
of our lakes and streams. Degradation of our
lakes and rivers from runoff of silt and
chemicals as well as physical changes from
damming, channelization, and dredging, have taken
their toll on native mussels in North America.
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Healthy Habitat

• Fish, birds and other aquatic organisms need a
  healthy habitat to survive
• To maintain a healthy lake ecosystem, this
  habitat needs to be preserved

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Healthy Habitat

• If these clean water indicator species disappear
  from your lake, that could indicate a water
  quality problem.

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Healthy Habitat

• Decreases in water quality and the loss of
  habitat and spawning sites for game species are
  often the primary mechanisms that create
  opportunities for less popular fish species
  (bullhead, carp)
• The best way to avoid this is to protect habitat
  where game fish spawn and rear their young
• Also, to protect fish and bird food sources such
  as invertebrates and aquatic plants

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Poor Water Indicators
Carp Common carp are domesticated ancestors of a
wild form native to the Caspian Sea region and
east Asia. Carp degrade shallow lakes by causing
excessive turbidity (cloudiness), which can lead
to declines in waterfowl and important native
fish species. The common carp was introduced by
unintentional release in 1879.
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Property Value

• A study conducted on northern Minnesota Lakes
  confirmed that lake water quality affects
  property values (BSU).
• For a 3 foot decrease in water clarity, prices
  were reduced up to 594 per shoreline foot.
• For a 3 foot increase in clarity, prices
  increased up to 423 per shoreline foot.
• This can be a significant financial loss or gain
  to a community as well as the individual
  homeowner.

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What can we do?

• Ground-truthing in your immediate lakeshed
• Look for lakeshore erosion
• Look upstream of your inlets
• Where does stormwater go near your lake?

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What can we do?

• Take good care of septic systems and their
  drainfields, failing systems can add nutrients
  and bacteria to the lake
• A septic system should be pumped at least every 3
  years

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What can we do?

• Minimize increasing impervious surface
• Impervious surface includes roofs, patios,
  sidewalks
• Impervious areas dont allow rain water to soak
  into the ground, which contributes to runoff
• Plant natural vegetation instead of rock walls
• Build a deck rather than a patio

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What can we do?

• Naturalize your shoreline
• Plant natural vegetation along the shoreline
  instead of a mowed lawn
• Dont dispose of yard waste in the lake or stream

Clitherall Lake
Winona Lake
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Shoreline Restoration
After
After
Before
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Why is it necessary?

• Encourage or restore the native vegetation along
  your shoreline to further slow runoff and filter
  nutrients that might otherwise reach your lake
• The benefits of a shoreline buffer strip also
  include improving habitat, increasing privacy,
  enhancing aesthetics, and deterring nuisance geese

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Healthy Habitat

• Removing aquatic vegetation eliminates shoreline
  stabilizing plants and habitat for
• Bass and other fish that hide among plants and
  spawn there
• Loons that nest in floating vegetation
• Waterfowl that feed on underwater plants
• Insects that live among underwater plants
• Sand trucked in for swimming beaches covers
  underwater gravel or silt used by
• Fish for spawning
• Mayflies for burrows
• Frogs for laying eggs

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Pollution Runoff

• Nonpoint sources include runoff from
• Urban areas
• Agriculture
• Mining
• Forestry
• Wastewater treatment
• Construction
• Transportation
• Recreational activities
• Boating in littoral zone

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Water Quality Myths

• Septic Systems are bad
• When your septic system is properly designed,
  installed, operated and maintained it will
  provide economical and effective sewage
  treatment.

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Water Quality Myths

• Swimmers Itch indicates poor water quality
• The presence of swimmers itch means you have the
  right kind of snail and the right kind of birds
  in your lake. We get caught in the middle when
  the parasite leaves the snails and enters our
  skin instead of the birds. Some common bird hosts
  include common mergansers, mallards, swans, and
  red-winged blackbirds.

• Its okay to use shampoo and soap in the lake
• Shampoo and soap can harm good aquatic insects.
  The shampoo and soap form a film on top of the
  water. This film causes the surface tension to
  break, and insects that walk on water fall in and
  drown.

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Stewardship

• Stewardship is an attitude.
• It is the understanding that what we do on land
  and in the water affects the lake.
• It is recognition that lakes are vulnerable and
  that in order to make them thrive, citizens, both
  individually and collectively, must assume
  responsibility for their care.

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Stewardship

• In the end, we will conserve only what we love
  
• we will love only what we understand
• and we will understand only what we have been
  taught.
• - Baba Dioum, a Senegalese ecologist

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Questions? Comments?
Enjoy the lakes!
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