Brooks Lake Area Association 2012 May Meeting Looking Forward to Clearer Waters

1. Brooks Lake Area Association 2012 May Meeting Looking Forward to Clearer Waters

2. Invasive Vegetation in Brooks Lake

3. Native Vegetation found in Brooks Lake Bushy Pondweed (Najas spp.) Cattail (Typha spp.) Clasping Leaf Pondweed (Potamogetonperfoliatus) Coon Tail (Ceratophyllumdemersum) Flatstem Pondweed (Potamogetonzosteriformi) • Largeleaf Pondweed ( Potamogetonamplifolius) • Lesser Duckweed (Lemna minor) • Musk Grass (Chara spp.) • Curly Leaf Pondweed (Potamogetoncrispus) Northern Watermilfoil (Myriophyllumexalbescen) Sago Pondweed (Potamogetonpectinatus) Star Duckweed (Lemnatrisulca) Whitestem Pondweed (Potamogetonpraelongus) Trophic State Index (TSI) is a measure combining ctransparency, phosphorus, and chlorophyll levels Brooks Lake TSI is 59.6

4. 7 Tips to Improve the Water on Brooks Lake for Lakeshore Land Owners Phosphorus is food for algae, so usually the more phosphorus is in the lake, the more algae there will be. Please help us decrease the amount of phosphorus being added to the lake following these 7 guidelines- (Suggestions for the city, township, park, golfcourse etc) Please limit fertilizer and chemicals applied to the lawn, driveways and roads. (absolutely nothing should be applied 10 feet (30 feet or more is best) away from the lake - the further away the better) Consider raking and catching grass clippings so that they don’t end up blowing or washing into the lake.. Pick up pet and animal waste. If burning brush, stay as far away from the lake as possible or consider hauling it away instead. Check your shoreline for soil erosion- native plants, trees and rip-rap rock can help eliminate the problem and are the first line of defense for our lake. Please do not mow up to the lake, the more and taller the grasses and native plants reemerge the more filtration and more benefits to the lake to limit erosion and pollution. (10 ft minimum with 30 feet or more in natural depth recommended). Maintain or construct a buffer of native plants along the shoreline to filter and absorb runoff. (the more the better) DNR access area is defined as no more than a 50 foot wide (we recommend 30 feet) and leave or return the rest to a natural water beneficial state When boating be mindful of your wake as it lapse up on the shore and stirs up muck and weeds in the shallow waters. DNR recommended slow to no wake zones 100 feet from shore. The further away from shore you boat and jet ski the better for our lake. Make sure to check, wash, and dry your boat before and after boating to ensure no spread of invasives. Clean up after fishing and properly dispose of all debris and waste especially on windy days and during ice fishing. In the winter when plowing please leave snow piles far from the lake so salts and other debris filters across more ground before getting to the lake. Check your septic. Make sure that it is running properly and pump it every other year. Following these tips we can positively impact the success improving the water quality of Brooks Lake! For more information on your specific property issues call or email us-we would be happy to offer ideas, plan, or help!

5. 7 Tips for Everyone to Improve the Water on Brooks Lake Phosphorus is food for algae, so usually the more phosphorus is in the lake, the more algae there will be. Please help us decrease the amount of phosphorus being added to the lake following these 6 guidelines- (For Community Land Owners in the surrounding area both lakeshore and within a couple miles- the streets culvert is on the south side drains directly into the lake as do many drain tiles) Please limit fertilizer and chemicals applied to the lawn, driveways and roads. Consider raking , sweeping and catching grass clippings so that they don’t end up washing into the street and flowing into the lake. Pick up pet and animal waste. Maintain or construct a buffer of plants along the streets and sidewalks to filter and absorb runoff. (the more the better) When boating be mindful of your wake as it lapse up on the shore and stirs up muck and weeds in the shallow waters. DNR recommended slow to no wake zones 100 feet from shore. The further away from shore you boat and jet ski the better for our lake. Make sure to check, wash, and dry your boat before and after boating to ensure no spread of invasives. Clean up after fishing and properly dispose of all debris and waste especially on windy days and during ice fishing. In the winter when plowing please leave snow piles on the grass and away from the lake so salts and other debris filters across more ground before getting to the lake. Following these tips we can positively impact the success improving the water quality of Brooks Lake! For more information on your specific property issues call or email us-we would be happy to offer ideas, plan, or help!

6. For 8.75 acres PLM quoted $3000 although too busy this year and $12,207 a year after that to treat the whole lake. For the above spreadsheet, the cost is for total treatment for one year (2 applications of aquathol in that year).  This is a separate program for homeowners which would want relief from Native vegetation in June/July. There are several products that could be used depending upon the target vegetation.  ( this is not going to remove all vegetation, only that that is causing recreational impacts.) Other lakes say they are also doing a treatment to help clear up algae blooms for swimming purposes What is the name of that chemical? The chemical is copper sulfate or other copper based product  What is the cost? Depending on the situation,  If it is lake wide algae control $100 per acre, otherwise for just the homeowners areas its 1.00 per foot of shoreline treated. If a homeowner participates in the native program outlined above it would be included in the two treatments.    PLM Treatment Contact: Patrick Selter Vice President - Midwest Division PLM Lake & Land Management Corp. DBA Professional Lake Management 218.568.5379 x3000 voice 320.210.0904 fax www.plmcorp.net Curly leaf Pondweed Possible Treatment Locations (totaling just over 41.3 acres) • . • Brooks Lake would be a good candidate for lakewide early season Curlyleaf Pondweed treatment because:.  1. A large percentage of the littoral area would require treatment approximately 71%  of the 58 total littoral area 2.Curly leaf Pondweed is likely causing some of the water quality issues 3.Curly leaf Pondweed is impacting the recreational use of the lake.    • Treatment of this scale will vary in treatment cost. • PLM’s total estimated cost for treatment would be around $12,207.00  • PLM will Guarantee at a minimum 80% control or greater.

7. Chris JurekInvasive Species Specialist DNR Ecological and Water Resources940 Industrial Dr. S, Suite 103Sauk Rapids, MN 56379320-255-4279, ext. 232Fax: 320-255-3999 Wendy Crowell Ecological Resources Grants CoordinatorMinnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Ecological and Water Resources 500 Lafayette Road, Box 25 St. Paul MN  55155 phone: (651) 259-5085 fax: (651) 296 -1811 wendy.crowell@state.mn.us We will need a vendor number for next year but due to time this year the City of Cokato is our fiscal agent, they will be the oneswiththe grant, which means that they will have to be billed for the treatment in order to be reimbursed.  Steve Hanson of MN DNR Eco and Water Resources must be present for treatment or give his approval to treat in his absence.Steve (651) 407-5343 or (651) 296-0784 to make appropriate arrangements prior to treatment date.  Chemical: Aquathol Super K Brooks Lake got a $2000 grant to start treating this year!! Thank you to DNR’s Chris Jurek and Wendy Crowell for all their help! Craig Mueller Aquatic Solutions of MN 320-434-2145 aquaticsolutionsmn@gmail.com www.aquaticsolutionsmn.com is willing to train us, rent us the equipment and sell us the product so that we can apply on our own. We apply at 1ppm and need a minimum of 2 consecutive acres to treat effectively. The main focus is the 6.34 acre section and the remaining 2.41 acres will be into the 32.1 acre section. His cost for 8-10 acres is $80/gallon + tax.  You can roughly figure, with a 6' ave depth, a price of $2920, or $333 per acre.  Depending on the depth, though, the price may go up or down a bit. FYI- in treating the whole lake, the price per gallon would go down and you can use much less per acre.  The price next year might be closer to $250 per acre.

8. We need to really focus on fund raising, donations and volunteers. So far we have had wonderful support. The city paid for the $1250 point intercept/ vegetation survey. We have gotten some individual donations which got us off the ground and helped pay for start up costs and expensed up to date. But, as we look to the future we need to ramp up our efforts. We are looking forward to 5 years of consecutive testing to eradicate the curly leaf pondweed to improve the overall quality of Brooks Lake. Currently we ask only $5 per year from members to cover basic costs like mailings, paperwork, post office box ($80 year). We also have website costs of over $100 a year for just the hosting fees to godaddy.com currently being donated by the Goldsberry family. We also have put in the can trailer. An aluminum and copper recycling trailer is located at the Brooks Lake boat landing proceeds have been covering the required testing of the lake. (The axle was donated by Mark and Elaine Budde, while Joe Mader donated his time and materials to weld, build and paint the trailer; and Ron Olsen donated the sign and Manda Goldsberry painted it. Jonathan Goldsberry and Ron Olson take it for recycling.)

9. Brooks Lake Area Association needs your help- • We need a grants coordinator volunteer. • We need a fundraising coordinator volunteer. • We need a volunteer to help run the water tests to Buffalo one Monday morning a month during the summer. • We need a volunteer to handle mail and the post office box once a week. • We need a lake treatment volunteer to help with the process. • We need donations- we are starting to collect funds for the lakewide 2013 treatment for curly leaf pondweed. • Without the help of dedicated volunteers this would not be possible. THANK YOU! Please call Manda Goldsberry (320)286-2871 or email brookslakeaa@yahoo.com for more information on how to volunteer or donate to improving the recreational and environmental protection of Brooks Lake. Information, Pictures and Graphs gathered from the following. For more information check out- www.brookslake.info Brooks Lake Area Association www.rmbel.info RMB Labs www.dnr.state.mn.us MN DNR www.plmcorp.net PLM Lake & Land Management Corp.