With the early, warm spring this year some of the area lakes have seen an increase in the number of weeds.
Jefferson Bishop, owner of Anchor Dock and Lift in Annandale, sees just about every lake in the area and said, "What I am seeing now on most of the lakes is what would be typical in August. If your part of the lake normally has an abundance of weeds in August, more than likely you are seeing it much earlier."
Serious lake people will tell you that some weeds are very good weeds.
"Native lake vegetation is essential for a healthy lake and all the wildlife. Cedar Lake has a good mix of native vegetation; we have coontail, northern milfoil, lily pads and wonderful bullrushes. Actually the cleaner the lake, the better and more diverse the native vegetation," said Kathy Jonsrud, Cedar Lake Conservation Club president.
But the bad weeds benefited from the early spring as well. The curly-leaf pondweed, CLP, and Eurasian water milfoil are two invasive weeds that have been found in recent years in some area lakes. These invasives can overgrow and push out the natives.
"This is our second year of treating Eurasian water milfoil and unfortunately, we do believe the amount we will treat this year has increased," Jonsrud said.
"This year, the curly-leaf pondweed we treated on Cedar went down, even though we heard other area lakes had a robust crop of it," added Jonsrud. This year Cedar Lake treated six acres of the weed, in 2010 they treated 38 acres.
According to Carl Swanson, of Lake Sylvia, "We treat curly-leaf pondweed in the 50 to 60 degree Fahrenheit water temperature range, as required by the DNR rules. Sixty degrees is the cutoff point when the native plants become viable. If a plant is dormant, the herbicide does not affect it."
According to Swanson the chemical herbicides have been effective in controlling curly-leaf pondweed in Lake Sylvia. "This year we treated one-tenth acre of scattered plants. Three years ago we had close to three acres," he said.
Swanson believes that the warm spring did not have an effect on Sylvia. "We had a warm March and a normal April. The aquatic plants appear to be behaving normally for Sylvia. We are a colder lake than others in the Heart of the Lakes area,"Swanson said.
Algae bloom
Some area lakes have seen an unusually high algae bloom. When temperatures climb and the summer sun beats down, conditions are ripe for Minnesota lakes to produce harmful algae blooms, some of which can be harmful to pets and humans.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has put out warnings for this blue-green algae.
According to the MPCA, people or animals may develop skin irritation or upper respiratory problems from exposure to the algae, and in extreme cases, dogs and other animals have even died after drinking lake water containing these toxins.
The MPCA says the toxic blue-green alage can be hard to identify. "While it’s often described as looking like pea soup or spilled green paint, it can take other forms as well," according to the MPCA.
When these conditions are present, people should avoid contact with the water and they should prevent animals from swimming in or drinking the water. Scientists do not yet know what causes some blooms to produce toxins while others do not, so the safest course of action is to avoid contact with all blue-green blooms.
No new milfoil reports
According to the DNR, there have been no new reports of Eurasian water milfoil in area lakes. This is good news. Area lakes that already have infestations with this invasive weed include Augusta, Cedar, Clearwater, East and West Sylvia, French, Granite, Indian, John, Mink and Sugar, with Lake John being the most recent addition to the list.
"We knew it was only a matter of time," said association president Rich Meyers in the Lake John newsletter. The lake also has CLP and both will be a topic of discussion at the association’s annual meeting Saturday, June 23.
There have also been no reports of Zebra mussels in any Wright County lakes. "Myself and the other inspectors have not encountered any instances of milfoil or Zebra mussels on boats or trailers that we have inspected," said Evan Freeman, watercraft inspection supervisor.
"In general, there has been very good cooperation, the most common violation is people not draining water from bilges, live wells, and bait containers before leaving the water access," Freeman said.