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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/16/07MINUTES OF THE LAKE ADVISORY COMMITTEE October 16, 2007 CALL TO ORDER The Lake Advisory Committee (LAC) Meeting was called to order at 4:35 P.M. Members present: Dan O'Keefe (Chair) Harry Alcorn (Vice Chair), Char Jasan, Donna Mankowski, Jim Marchessault. Others present: Ross Bintner, Water Resources Engineer; Ken Hedberg, Council Jim Winger, Spring Lake Association; John Bilotta, University of Minnesota Extension; Mike Kinney; PLSLWD; Larry Poppler, Assistant City Engineer. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve prior meeting minutes, Marchesault, Alcorn — Pass (5:0) OLD BUSINESS OTHER BUSINESS STAFF UPDATE A. Docks Task Force: i. Bintner reported that the first docks task force meeting would be held on October 22n with two members from the LAC and two members from the PC. B. Watershed TMPL Effort i. Bintner explained the PLSLWD will be looking for public involvement in their TMDL effort. Bintner explained a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study is required by the Clean Water Act, when a water body is found to be exceeding standards for a pollutant such as nutrients, mercury, salinity, etc. Bintner said that the upcoming presentation would also cover TMDLs and explain them further. NEW BUSINESS Stormwater Presentation by John Bilotta. "Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials" or NEMO emphasizes on educating decision makers to promote a broader understanding of stormwater issues. With development, impacts to water quality come. Bilotta showed a standard lake lot that included a rock shoreline, turf grass from property line to property line, saying the ecologists call a turfed lake lot a "desert" because there is so little diversity of vegetation or water quality protection. 90% of the living things in a lake are dependant on the littoral zone and the shoreline zone, so effects from docks, beaches has a great effect on the biota of the lake. 6 types of pollution: Thermal stress, Debris, Toxics, Pathogens, Sediment, and Nutrients. Biolotta detailed each type of pollution, in summary: Nutrients is a large management battle, we know it comes from animal and human was, and land use practices such as fertilization. Canadian lake study added phosphorus (P) to one side of a silt curtain dividing a lake, after 8 years the water on the P added side was milky colored while the rest was clear. Increased levels of P lead to excessive fertility and excessive plant growth, algae, reduced water clarity, and fisheries. TMDLs will be done for Spring and Upper Prior that will help identify where the P is coming from in the Community. 1 l of phosphorus can grow 500lbs of algae growth. Sediment causes a number of problems, decreasing water clarity, and carries other pollutants with it. Bintner stated that the City of Prior Lake is monitoring for Chloride. Nutrient levels go up fast, but go down very slow. It could take many years to see results from management activities being implemented today. The future TMDL will help find a goal of nutrient levels to get back to. Even road sediment far from the lake can get to the lake through pipe systems that connect to downstream bodies. Bacteria and Pathogens: Sources such as hobby farms and animal waste can be sources of bacteria and pathogens. Toxics: Much of the toxics from point sources has been remedied, but small sources still remain. Hydrocarbons and household hazardous wastes are some sources. Debris: Water bottles are the most prolific type of waste, but many other sources exist. Bintner brought up the LACs involvement with the Prior Lake Associations "Dive the Lake, Lake Cleanup Day" event as one effort the community has taken to promote awareness of this issue. What is a watershed? All those areas that drain to one point or one body of water. Increasing amounts of impervious surface speed the runoff and increase pollutant carrying ability. Turf grass can sometimes be impervious as well because it is can be so compacted. Impervious surfaces inhibit the recharge of groundwater and provide an area for pollutants to accumulate. The stormwater pipes can provide and expressway for pollutants to speed to natural water bodies. Roadways and parking lots make up the majority of impervious surfaces in an urban landscape. Much of the impervious surface is owned by the public. O'keefe asked how to balance impervious surface needs of growth and water quality need to limit the surface. Regulation, Incentives, and Education all can be used as tools to help implement existing plans in Prior Lake. Planning and shoreline management are already in use in zoning regulation in the City. 2 TMDL: Total Maximum Daily Load study is underway for Spring and Upper Prior Lake. The Study will identify the sources of pollution and implementation to meet water quality goals. Many parties help implement a TMDL and much public involvement is needed to make a successful program. LID: Low impact development attempts to mimic the natural cycle of water in the environment. How do we make a rapidly urbanizing environment function more like a natural system? BMP: Best management practices. Those practices that help reduce or trap pollution and prevent it from getting to natural water bodies.. examples Ponds, rain gardens, street sweeping, filter strips, land uses practices, shoreline restoration, prevention of pollution, native plantings, improved forest covers, etc. Bilotta summarized by saying the NEMO program is meant to education about pollutants and stressed that the decisions we make at a local level have an effect on water quality. Bilotta offered to assist in additional education if the LAC wanted to delve further into any of the issues summarized tonight. O'Keefe asked what effect the upsteam agricultural uses have on water quality in the chain of lakes. Bilotta said a combination of problems come from shoreline area, others come from urban areas and the conduits that connect land to the water and upsteam sources. Bintner added that rarely is there a `silver bullet' solution to water pollution and that many times the solution comes down to doing a lot of little things at once. Alcorn asked if NEMO related to current regulations or if they had recommendations that went above current regulations. Bilotta said that NEMO is strictly educational. NEMO can help provide sample ordinances of how other communities have approached the same problems. Mankowski stated the Ferric Cloride system the WD owns was a first step in treating upstream phosphorus. More education is needed to help promote shoreland buffer areas and that the LAC might want to consider that as a recommendation. Bilotta agreed that a balance of education, regulation and incentives will be needed to meet the goals. Bilotta stressed that citizens need to learn that there is a strong connection between street catch basins and water quality, and what drains to them ends up in the lake. Bintner asked Bilotta to share his experience in other counties that have a countywide stormwater educator. Biotta said Carver, Washington and Dakota have education coordinators to help deliver education messages that promote water quality. Hedberg asked what happens to the ability to effect water quality when build out occurs and what are effects on other smaller lakes and wetlands. Hedberg asked if raingardens work on shoreland properties and can we design incentives for private raingarden shoreline restoration and raingarden installation. Bilotta encouraged LID techniques in future development. Those areas that are already developed and will be redeveloped should consider adding BMPs. Rain gardens and incentive practices are out there and very possible. 3 Bintner added that LID type techniques have been implemented to a small degree in some recent development that uses the Planned Unit Development (PUD) method rather than standard development. Mankowski said that the Lake Friendly program that the WD ran was successful and should be continued. Marchssault suggested further education and promotion. Hedberg said homeowners associations could partner on these efforts as well. ADJOURNMENT THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 5:00 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Ross Bintner Water Resources Engineer 12