Trouble by the water: Minnesota's vanishing natural lakeshores→

MPR:

Are Minnesotans loving their lakes to death? Nearly half of wild shorelines that protect lakes from pollution are now gone. It’s possible to repair the damage, but is the will there to do it?

Join MPR News correspondent Kirsti Marohn as she explores these questions and takes us for a lake tour to see how suburban-style development is changing Minnesota’s lakeshores.

Funding for this series is provided in part by the Four Cedars Environmental Fund of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.

Minnesota Governor Proposes 50-foot Shoreline Buffer Enforcement→

Dave Orrick, reporting for the Pioneer Press:

Dave Orrick

“Gov. Mark Dayton said Friday that he will ask the Legislature to expand the law protecting Minnesota streams and ditches against erosion and chemical runoff.

At an annual Department of Natural Resources meeting on outdoors issues in Brooklyn Park, Dayton said he wants a minimum 50-foot buffer strip protecting every stream, drainage ditch and river in the state...

Current state laws mandate vegetative buffers of 50 feet or 16.5 feet around many waterways in agricultural lands, but the laws aren’t uniformly enforced, and many waters are exempt.

As a result, crops often are planted up to the edge of those waterways and runoff polluted with fertilizer and pesticides can spill into the water, eventually reach the Mississippi River.

”The rules are inconsistent, and they’re enforced inconsistently,” Dayton said. “I would propose that a 50-foot buffer be required on all riparian lands in Minnesota, and that 50-foot buffer be enforced, and I mean enforced.”

Unalaska Lake Needs Help→

Annie Ropeik, reporting for KUCB:

Wanetta Ayers

“Residents ask the City to fix lake pollution. The Unalaska Lake watershed is prime spawning ground for salmon in the heart of the city’s historic downtown. It’s also some of the least healthy habitat in the Aleutian Islands.

But residents’ concerns went beyond the scope of the grant. They say it’s the city’s push for development that’s harmed the lake. And city manager Chris Hladick said after the meeting that’s not a problem he can solve with just a million dollars.

”We realize that the money isn’t going to be a huge amount ... so the planning effort is really important for the long-term,” he says. “We’re heightening this issue to another level to let contractors or whatever know, hey, we’ve gotta get our act together.”

Hladick’s hoping the grant will spur some planning for stormwater management that the city should have done years ago. ”

Already know you that which you need. Blaming each other does not get the work done. Each must do their part. Stormwater management and restoring shoreline vegetation and wetlands. Save you it can.

Lake Whatcom's Pollution Puzzle→

Ralph Schwartz, reporting for the Bellingham Herald (WA):

“City officials have been working for years to reduce the amount of phosphorus draining into Lake Whatcom. This year, officials plan to clean up their own backyard by improving stormwater treatment at Bloedel Donovan Park, which has especially high levels of phosphorus in its soil.”

What Do We Mean By “Clean?”→

Emily Hilts, writing at 'The Life Aquatic' blog:

“Let’s say we could clean Mendota in an instant. What would it look like? Far clearer water, healthy stands of plants, no floating garbage… we can all agree on this vision, right? But what if we drift closer to shore – what does it look like then? Not everyone has the same idea of what a “clean” shoreline looks like.”

Nice story weaving recent lake science and what make place.