The District is honored to have been awarded the Program of the Year at the 2020 Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts’ (MAWD) annual conference earlier this month!

The carp certainly kept staff very busy in 2020. From tagging and tracking carp to carp seining and new removal techniques, it’s been a busy year. Check out some of the carp management and see some photos of work the District has done in 2020 in this cool StoryMap here.

Shown above are District and WSB staff (our carp consultant) Mary Newman (WSB), Maggie Karschnia (PLSLWD), Tony Havranek (WSB), Jordan Wein (WSB) and Jeff Anderson (PLSLWD) at a carp seine in 2020.

Since 2015, the District has undertaken a comprehensive effort to reduce common carp in Prior Lake and Spring Lake, creating and implementing an Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPM) to reduce internal phosphorus loading in the lakes which are impaired for excess nutrients including phosphorus.

Besides using traditional techniques of estimating carp biomass and carp seines, the District developed its own traps; herded carp underwater to trapping locations; trained citizens to locate and bait carp; instituted innovative netting techniques and used underwater and stationary cameras to locate carp and improve haul success.

“This is an iterative process, but so far carp removal efforts have resulted in substantial carp biomass removal and progress has been made on meeting the goals,” said Maggie Karschnia, Water Resources Project Manager.

To watch a video of a carp seining event, learn more about the methods used to manage carp, or to find out how residents and lake enthusiasts can help, check out the District’s carp management page here and the Carp Volunteer page here.