2005 RLAA General Activities

2005 RLAA General Activities

September 9 - DNR rej= ects request for a Rice Lake drawdown for 2005-2006 based on a lack of historical plant studies done in previous years. RLAA will be insuring = these studies are completed and made available to both City of Maple Grove and DNR in future.

A= ugust 16 - RLAA working with DNR to request a drawdown on the lake this winter.= DNR must approve before Maple Grove City Counci= l can grant Public Works permission to conduct drawdown. Letters will be mailed to lakeshore owners if a drawdown will be conducted this fall/winter.

August 12 - New algae= blooms appearing on lake, but not to the degree of earlier bloom. No treatment is deemed necessary at this time by the RLAA Board of Directors.

August 10 - Copper Su= lfate algae treatments appeared to have reduced the amounts of algae on the lake.=

August 9 - Treatment = #3 of 3 applied today on southern half of lake at 25% application rate. This conclu= des the entire lake treatment at a rate of approximately 5.8 lbs/acre coverage.= There are no further applications planned at this time. No fish kills were report= ed during the treatments.

July 28 - RLAA Board = of Directors met and agreed to request a drawdown this winter. DNR approval is being sought to provide to the Maple Grove City Council justifying the requ= est. Details will be forthcoming on this website.

July 25 - Treatment #= 2 of 3 applied today on northern half of lake up Elm Creek to the dam. Remaining treatment to be applied around August 1 on southern= half of lake.

July 18 - Lake Restoration applied 25% of the dosage of Copper Sulfate to the lake today. They will ap= ply 50% of the dosage next week and the remaining 25% the week after that. All treatment should be completed by the first week of August.

There are no restrict= ions on the lake during the treatment periods.

July 13 - DNR approve= d permit for Copper Sulfate complete lake application. Treatment will begin early ne= xt week (7/18-19). Some dead fish have been observed in recent days, most like= ly as a result of the algae bloom.

July 9 - Algae condit= ions on lake are getting poor with visibility

u= nder 1 foot in the creek. If you see any fish kills, please = e-mail this website at RiceLakeAssoc@comcast.net

July 8 - Update on Algae Treatment= plans in Rice <= st1:PlaceType w:st=3D"on">Lake in July:

     7/5 - Collected 53 signatures from lakeshore owners with OK

        =        (of 55 homes collected, 2 voted No and 53= voted Yes)

      7/6 - Subm= itted signatures to Lake Restoration to get = DNR permit to authorize complete

        =        lake/creek treatment        =

      7/8 - Awaiting DNR inspection of lake to grant permit.= Next Step - Once DNR approves

        =        permit, apply first 1/2 application follo= wed by second 1/2 within one week later

June 26 - Floating bl= ue-green algae called "aphanazomenon" has been present on Rice Lake during the past 2 weeks. Water clarity has dropped 50% and surface scum is beginning to appear. RLAA Direc= tors have voted to treat this algae with Copper Sulfa= te or an equivalent algaecide, which will only impact the algae and leave vegetat= ion, fish, and pets untouched. Efforts are under way to meet DNR requirements for treating by getting more than 50% of the lakeshore owners around the lake to approve by signing a petition. Directors are visiting neighborhood this wee= kend to collect those signatures.

There was also an out= break of this same algae late last summer that went untre= ated. RLAA believes the subsequent fish kill and terrible decomposition odors were direct results of that failure to treat the algae.

May 29 - RLAA Lake Ma= nagement Plan is now available on-line. (Go to 'Current Projects' link on the left f= or details of the plan)

May 24 - No signs of Curlyleaf Pondweed have been found in the areas exposed by the drawdown. Na= tive plants are showing signs of recovering in the same vicinity. There have been some signs of CLP growth in the deeper portions of the lake, but the severi= ty of the growth is not yet known.

April 28 - RLAA Annual Meeting Minutes (Click here for details)

April 28 - RLAA Annual Meeting date; click here for details.

April 16 - Lake level back to normal.

April 3 - Ice Out on = majority of Rice <= st1:PlaceType w:st=3D"on">Lake. Lake<= /st1:place> level 2 feet short.

April 2 - Winter Aera= tor removed from the lake.

March 11 - City Publi= c Works Department will be raising water level to normal in near future.=

March 10 - Aerator tu= rned off for the season (per DNR permit). Will be removed when either: 1) Ice is str= ong enough to recover it; or 2) Can be accessed by b= oat.

February 16 - Carp Co= ntrol meeting held with Dr. Peter Sorensen from University of Minnesoa. Go to 'Current Projects' page for details.

February 12 - Aerator= shaft and motor replaced and started up again. Water began to open up same day. Several Thin Ice signs were righted into position.

February 5 - Aerator = shaft not propelling oxygen into the water. Motor/impellar housing removed to be brought in for service at local manufacturer. Float a= nd flags remain intact in same location.

B= lown over Warning and Thin Ice signs replaced per DNR poscard to RLAA on 1/31/05.

January 26 - Oxygen l= evels tested and reported as "good" by DNR analyst.

January 24 - Blown fu= se replaced in Aerator and it was restarted. Has been running the past week and continues to supply oxygen into the water. However, ice is not melting to f= orm open water yet.

January 22, 2005- Aer= ator has stopped running sometime this past week (we believe since Tuesday). The Aer= ator is completely frozen in at this time. A replacement fuse needs to be instal= led to get it running again. We are trying to locate one now.=