Boat Inspections Underway on Prior & Spring Lakes

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - May 20, 2020 - News, Prior Lake, Spring Lake

Boat inspections are now underway for the 2020 boating season. The District has engaged WaterGuards, a company based in St. Joseph, Minnesota, to conduct inspections at the three public boat launches on Prior and Spring Lake.

Inspectors inspect boats for aquatic invasive species (AIS) prior to entering and after leaving the lake. The goals of inspections are to prevent the introduction of new AIS into local lakes, stop AIS already present from spreading to new lakes and educate boaters on AIS.

The District’s AIS boat inspections are meant to supplement the Minnesota DNR’s boat inspection hours at the three launches. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic the DNR has not yet started boat inspections this year. At this time, WaterGuards is currently covering the hours (primarily Friday-Sunday) the DNR would normally be inspecting. Inspection times are focused around predicted higher traffic times. The DNR has not yet announced their plans for 2020 AIS boat inspections.

Boaters are reminded to always inspect their boat before and after entering a lake regardless of whether an inspector is present. You can help prevent the spread of AIS.

Once an invasive species is introduced into a lake, it is impossible to eradicate and reducing or managing the growth of established aquatic invasive species is often very expensive. Prevention or early detection is an important component to effectively managing AIS.

Currently known AIS present in Prior Lake are zebra mussels, curlyleaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil and curlyleaf pondweed in Spring Lake.

View Full Article AIS, AIS inspections, boat inspections

Curlyleaf Pondweed Treatment this week: Prior and Spring Lakes

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - May 13, 2020 - News, Prior Lake, Spring Lake

Treatment for curlyleaf pondweed (a non-native, invasive aquatic plant) on Prior Lake was completed yesterday (May 12) and Spring Lake’s treatment is scheduled for Friday (May 15). It is recommended that you wait three days after treatment to use lake water to irrigate lawns or gardens.

The District completed aquatic plant surveys this spring identified several areas with high concentrations of curlyleaf pondweed for treatment. Treatment areas are numbered and marked on the maps below in orange for Prior Lake and purple for Spring Lake.

Why treat? As is common with non-native, invasive species, curlyleaf pondweed is one of the first things growing in the spring. Unfortunately this gives it a head start and allows the curlyleaf to crowd out the native aquatic plants that are good for the lake. Treating the curlyleaf gives a native plants a chance to grow.

View Full Article AIS, CLP, Curly-leaf pondweed, Curlyleaf pondweed, Prior Lake, Spring Lake

AIS Watercraft Inspections Results

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - November 14, 2019 - News

In 2019, the District hired Waterfront Restoration to supplement the DNR’s boat inspections at the public boat launches to prevent the spread of AIS (aquatic invasive species), such as zebra mussels. The DNR staffed inspectors for a limited number of hours at the Prior Lake and Spring Lake boat launches. However, the District wanted additional coverage at the Spring Lake boat launch, particularly because Spring Lake does not currently have zebra mussels while Prior Lake does; consequently Waterfront Restoration was hired to provide additional inspection hours.

For a summary of Waterfront Restoration’s work and what they found during their inspections this summer in Scott County, take a look at their report presented at the District’s November board meeting here.

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What did PLSLWD do in 2017? Check out our 2017 Annual Report!

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - May 2, 2018 - Ongoing Projects, News, Prior Lake, Spring Lake

The 2017 Annual Report is out! What to know what the District accomplished in 2017? Check out the report for a rundown of the District’s 2017 programs, projects, and everything else.

You can also find a sneak preview of what’s in the works for 2018! The report can be found on our District Reports page.

P.S. Lest you dismiss this as boring, we promise the report is easy for the average citizen to read and includes some nice pictures too!

View Full Article AIS, Annual report, PLSLWD, capital projects, carp, education, lakes, monitoring, projects, restoration

Clean Boats, Clean Lakes!

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - November 3, 2017 - News, Prior Lake

Cleaning stations at local lakes could help prevent the spread of AIS in MN. This cleaning station is located at Bryant Lake Park in Eden Prairie.

Zebra mussels. Curlyleaf pondweed. Eurasian watermilfoil. Spiny waterflea. Aquatic invasive species continue to wreak havoc on Minnesota lakes and many popular lakes around the state have been invaded by at least one invasive species. Lake Minnetonka, Lake Mille Lacs, Leech Lake, White Bear Lake are all infested with aquatic invasive species. Closer to home, Upper & Lower Prior Lake, Pike Lake and O’Dowd Lake are too.

Given the media coverage on AIS, it might seem like every lake is doomed. However, only 5% of Minnesota’s 11,000 lakes are on the DNR’s list of infested waters¹. And that’s where the public comes in.

You can help keep invasive species from spreading to the rest of Minnesota’s lakes by following the CLEAN, DRAIN, DRY motto. Check and clean your boat every time you take your boat out of a lake and double check that your boat is clean before putting it into another lake or river.

Boat inspectors can’t be everywhere and in the rush of getting on or off the lake, many people forget or don’t realize they need to check their boat and drain any water. To address this problem, the Minnesota-based company, CD3, has developed a watercraft cleaning station.

The CD3 cleaning stations are equipped with a suite of tools to help boater quickly clean their boats and trailers with the help of a wet/dry vacuum, air compressor, drain plug wrench, scrub brush and squeegee as well as overhead and foot-level lights. The stations are free for users. Staff can monitor station usage and many maintenance needs remotely.

You can see a station in action here or visit Bryant Lake Park in Eden Prairie to see one for yourself.

Five CD3 stations were installed in Minnesota this year as a pilot project: four at metro area lakes and one in Duluth. The pilots have gone well; to date the stations have been used close to 7,000 times this year.

While a cleaning station would not be a silver bullet to preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species, it would serve as another tool to educate the public and get people into the habit of cleaning their boats.

What can I do?

You can help stop the spread of aquatic invasive species. Take three steps every time you leave a lake or river – whether or not it’s infested:

Clean all aquatic plants, zebra mussels, and other invasive species from boats, trailers, and water-related equipment.
Drain water from your boat, ballast tanks, motor, live well and bait container. Remove drain plugs and keep drain plugs out while transporting equipment.
Dispose of unwanted bait in the trash. To keep live bait, drain the water and refill the bait container with bottled or tap water.

Source: MN DNR www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/ais/infested.html

View Full Article AIS, aquatic invasive species, invasive species