Square Lake: Lake Health Open House Overview - 5/13/24
Editor’s Note: On behalf of SLA’s Board of Directors, I’m very pleased to introduce our wonderful friend, new SLA member, and neighbor, Angel Samolytz to you. Angel has kindly agreed to serve as Square Roots Blog Co-Editor. She will be helping me with Blog posts, and Matt with website technical support. Here is Angel’s LinkedIn profile for further background. Importantly, Angel is an active conservationist, who’s provided extensive volunteer support to our successful Square Lake Conservancy advocacy this past year. Please join me in welcoming Angel to our website team. She can be reached by email here. - Jim Seidl
At the April 16 Open House hosted and presented by Carnelian Marine St. Croix Watershed District’s Administrator, Mike Isensee, and Riparian Permit Specialist, Tom Langer, Square Lake Association members and members of the community had the opportunity to learn more about Square Lake’s health.
It’s been long said and something we’re all proud of that our lake has been rated well by the Metropolitan Council for having outstanding water quality in the metro area. And according to Mike Isensee, “Square Lake is doing great and trending up slightly.” However, after this presentation, we were made aware there is even more we can do to improve Square Lake’s water quality further as the metrics of clear water alone is not enough for enduring good lake health for generations. Lynn Mecum reached out to Mike and Tom for a copy of the presentation and inquired for more information about how Square Lake had a low shoreland rating in the presentation.
Mike Isensee’s presentation, Square Lake: Lake Health Open House, is linked here for your review. Please note it may require a few moments to download because of its size of 5.3 MB.
As we learned, Square Lake had a few surprising low shoreland ratings and is close to the threshold for Fish Index of Biologic Integrity. In the presentation, please review these pages to learn more:
[Page 26] DNR Results showing Square Lake just 2 points above the threshold for Fish Index of Biologic Integrity.
[Page 32] MPCA Results showing Square Lake scoring a low moderate for shoreline health.
[Pages 42,46,49,50,51,52] CMSCWD More Thorough Investigation Results showing Square Lake scoring well for shoreland trees, but low for the following important habitats: emergent vegetation, shoreline native vegetation, trees, and shrubs.
To understand how this all works together:
[Page 52] Conclusions - The low scoring areas are a result in a Low rating for overall lakeshore habitat and are likely the cause of the low Fish Index of Biologic Integrity Score making Square Lake less resilient and more susceptible to future issues.
Here’s the good news - there is a low-cost and helpful partnership available to all lake shore owners!
[Final pages] CMSCWD wants to work with landowners! If anyone is interested in learning more, they can help schedule an onsite meeting to talk about potential projects, free design, and cost share with the talented and experienced staff (landscape architects, restorations, engineers, etc.) at the Washington Conservation District. 21 full-time professionals available to assist SLA members and can check on progress annually. Mike and Tom stressed how they want to see numbers improve for Square Lake and look forward to working with us!
Ready to see if there is more you can do to improve your shoreline? You have two ways to get started:
Contact Mike Isensee by email or 651-275-7451. You can also schedule your free site visit through scheduling with the Washington Conservation District here. Mike is happy to answer questions if you’d like more information.
Lynn Mecum is also available as the Lake Steward Program volunteer for Square Lake. Lynn will be available this spring and summer to conduct short 30 to 45-minute site visits which include a simple 10 question survey. The survey helps shoreline owners compare their property management activities to best practices for water quality and shoreline management. Lynn will offer a series of practical, easy-to-implement suggestions for improving lake quality. Lynn can be reached by email here.
Thanks to the following folks for attending this presentation: Scott Alexander, Alicia Blanchard, Jane Boss, Ann & Dave Brookman, Carol Gilligan, Kristine & Annette Glamos, Lee Haugen, Jane Krentz, Rick & Pat Markwardt, Matt Mattson, Lynn Mecum, Jerry Mellgren, Sue Olson, Joe Pertz, Angel Samolytz and George Scott. Please discuss what you learned with other lakeshore owners who couldn’t attend or share this blog post. It’s important we all know what more we can do to help improve Square Lake.
“Exploring the St. Croix River Valley: Adventures on and off the Water.” The winners are Jane Krentz, Sue Olson, Angel Samolytz and George Scott. Thanks to Jim Seidl for contributing these books to the lucky winners! If you’d like to read more about Angie’s book, check out Jim’s post on February 8th here. You can pre-order your copy today at the University of Minnesota Press website and receive $10 off with promo code MN91460 at check-out. Please note the release date is now in July.