What a difference a morning of work can make! Neighbors of Crystal Lake in Prior Lake marveled at how much better the park looked after April 23rd’s Clean Water Clean-Up, hosted by the City of Prior Lake and the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District.

Over 80 kids, adults, scouts from the local Girl Scout Troop 27276 and Cub Scout Pack 917, students from Aspen Academy and some teen volunteers from St. Michael’s Catholic Church cleaned up leaves and organic debris to protect the lake’s water quality. In addition, several people took on the challenge of using “buckthorn pullers” to pull out invasive buckthorn plants by their roots. You can see lots of photos from the event here!

1780 pounds of leaves, 7 dump trucks full of buckthorn and sticks

Volunteers filled seven dump trucks with buckthorn and other woody debris and raked over 1780 pounds of leaves! Hard to believe they did all this in just a couple of hours!

Leaves and other organic matter are carried by stormwater into storm drains and end up in lakes and streams. Once in the waterbodies, they breakdown and release phosphorus, which feeds algae. Algae growth is a serious threat to water quality, aquatic life, property values and water recreation. Buckthorn is an invasive, non-native species which takes over, shading out native woodland plants.

Local businesses generously provided door prizes and lunch was served to the volunteers. The District and the City plan on doing another clean-up in the fall. Stay tuned by clicking on the link on the District’s website: http://www.plslwd.org or on the City’s website: http://www.cityofpriorlake.com or by calling the District at 952-447-4166.