{"id":21396,"date":"2015-07-28T08:55:26","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T13:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/?p=21396"},"modified":"2015-07-28T08:55:26","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T13:55:26","slug":"st-cloud-times-water-fight-funds-boost-stearns-county-ais-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/2015\/07\/28\/st-cloud-times-water-fight-funds-boost-stearns-county-ais-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Cloud Times: Water fight: Funds boost Stearns County AIS efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARTY – Blake Field anchored the small boat in the middle of Pearl Lake, the most likely spot to find zebra mussel veligers on this water body — one of Stearns County’s 50 uninfested lakes with public access that will be sampled this summer for the aquatic invasive species.<\/span><\/p>\n

Field, a senior environmental studies major at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, is interning with the Sauk River Watershed District. The agency was awarded $18,625 — part of Stearns County’s $255,261 legislative allotment for 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Legislature set aside $10 million for aquatic invasive species aid to counties in 2015. Funding, based on the number of public boat accesses and trailer parking spaces, will continue at current levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Exactly how the money is spent is up to individual counties. The level of planning and preparedness varies widely.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time the Legislature distributed the first round of funding in 2014, Stearns County had already formed an AIS task force and initiative fund at the urging of the coalition of lake associations. The county AIS task force receives requests for proposals and decides what to fund — and what countywide projects to pursue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Story continues below.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The Sauk River Watershed District is test area lakes for microscopic zebra mussel veligers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the SRWD project monitoring zebra mussel veligers, or larvae, the task force funded $87,640 for water access inspections, $48,887 for aquatic invasive species treatment and $14,138 for education.<\/span><\/p>\n

“A lot of it was decided just based on the proposals that we got from the individual lake associations,” said Sue McGuire, Stearns County water plan coordinator and AIS committee coordinator. The 11-member committee includes representatives from lake associations and conservation districts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preference was given to lake associations or agencies that proposed matching funds. The SRWD, for example, supplied about $9,100 in matching funds — including in-kind contributions.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We decided to do some baseline data because short of anybody complaining or thinking they have zebra mussels, really the lakes haven’t been sampled before,” said Adam Hjelm, Sauk Centre-based SRWD education coordinator.<\/span><\/p>\n

The largest single award, $35,000, went to the North Fork Crow River Watershed District for AIS inspections at Rice and Koronis lakes. The largest award for treatment went toward pulling and chemically treating Eurasian watermilfoil on Little Birch Lake.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think that would be one of our goals, to try to cover the county more thoroughly. Although when you look at the bigger, high-recreation lakes in the county, many of them are getting inspection programs,” McGuire said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The balance of Stearns County’s 2015 allotment will cover countywide initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Story continues below.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Buy Photo<\/span><\/p>\n

Blake Fields, Sauk River Watershed District intern, heads back to the boat landing. Fully grown zebra mussels can clog water intake systems, interfere with boat motors and industrial pipes, smother native clams and cut swimmers’ feet. <\/b>(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Those could include:<\/span><\/p>\n

• $25,000 to purchase a hot-water decontamination unit, as soon as next year. Where it would set up, how it would be staffed and maintained are among the details being worked out.<\/span><\/p>\n

• $10,000 for multiyear incentives rewarding individuals who allow a AIS inspection of docks from infested waters. The Watab Lake Dock Coupon initiative would give sellers $200 once inspectors verify the dock is AIS-free and has been out of the water for 21 days. An implementation date hasn’t been set.<\/span><\/p>\n

• $4,500 to develop a rapid response plan, which could happen within the month. It would offer an action plan for new, treatable infestations.<\/span><\/p>\n

• $2,000 to survey AIS signs at accesses, a project that is underway.<\/span><\/p>\n

• An undetermined amount to present an AIS summit, possibly this fall. The event is in the planning stages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Until the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on July 17 confirmed their presence in Clearwater Lake<\/span><\/i><\/a>, the only known zebra mussel-infested lakes in Stearns County were Watab, Rossier and Lower Watab.<\/span><\/p>\n

“They pose a pretty immediate risk to the other lakes. There is no public access on those lakes, so the DNR is not going to set up inspections,” McGuire said, speaking before the Clearwater infestation was announced. “But our thought was partly to try to do some education around the lakes to make sure everybody that lives there is aware of the risk.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers continue to seek ways to contain or eliminate zebra mussels without harming native species.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It could be that if a lake is prevented from getting AIS for long enough, maybe the science will come through with some way to keep it out for good,” McGuire said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Story continues below.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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Adam Hjelm, Sauk River Watershed District education coordinator, checks the shore and the dock posts for signs of zebra mussels at Pearl Lake near Marty. <\/b>(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, SRWD monitoring hasn’t turned up any new zebra mussel infestations. Hjelm said all 22 tests returned as of July 20 came back clean.<\/span><\/p>\n

That effort will continue into August; each site will be sampled twice. Ideal sites are at least 10 feet deep and get a lot of boat traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Field prepared to collect the season’s first sample from Pearl Lake on July 14.<\/span><\/p>\n

The plankton net — with mesh fine enough to capture the microscopic larvae that float freely until they adhere to a solid surface — looks a bit like a wind sock attached to a plastic filter. Field grabbed a nozzle attached to a plastic canister labeled “tapwater” and sprayed the net before lowering it about 10 feet, just above the lake bottom.<\/span><\/p>\n

He poured the greenish sample into a plastic bottle, and then lowered the net again. The 70 percent alcohol solution will preserve the sample, which is shipped to a Detroit Lakes lab where technicians look for the stripey veligers under microscopes. Fields recorded the depth, weather conditions and coordinates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zebra mussel veligers grow to fingernail-size clams. Fully grown zebra mussels appear en masse, clogging water intake systems, interfering with boat motors and industrial pipes, smothering native clams and cutting swimmers’ feet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each can produce up to 500,000 young a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buy Photo<\/span><\/p>\n

Blake Fields, Sauk River Watershed District intern, pours a sample of lake water July 14 from Pearl Lake near Marty into a bottle that will be analyzed for zebra mussel veligers. Samples are being taken at 50 Stearns County Lakes. <\/b>(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

McGuire’s biggest challenge?<\/span><\/p>\n

“Some of the unknowns and public perception is that it’s a given that it’s going to be transmitted and there’s nothing that can be done about it, which I don’t think is true. The science indicates that the vast majority of the infestations are from people. It’s watercraft or trailers or docks,” McGuire said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow Ann Wessel on Twitter @AnnWessel.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

County breakdown<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Area counties’ portion of 2015 aquatic invasive species prevention aid follows.<\/span><\/p>\n

•Sherburne County: $72,960. The county delegated responsibility for devising a work plan to the Sherburne Soil & Water Conservation District. The biggest single award, $21,620, would go toward education.<\/span><\/p>\n

•Benton County: $37,191. The county plans to enlist outside help to identify the challenges in Little Rock and Mayhew lakes, according to Monty Headley, county administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n

•Wright County: $240,722.<\/span><\/p>\n

•Morrison County: $131,867.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buy Photo<\/span><\/p>\n

Blake Fields, Sauk River Watershed District intern, and Adam Hjelm, Sauk River Watershed District education coordinator, load their boat July 14 after taking water samples on Pearl Lake near Marty. Samples are being taken from 50 Stearns County lakes checking for zebra mussel veligers. <\/b>(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MARTY – Blake Field anchored the small boat in the middle of Pearl Lake, the most likely spot to find zebra mussel veligers on this water body — one of Stearns County’s 50 uninfested lakes with public access that will be sampled this summer for the aquatic invasive species. Field, a senior environmental studies major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-uncategorized","post_format-post-format-link"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21397,"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21396\/revisions\/21397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bemidjistate.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}