ALL RICE LAKE AREA ASSOCIATION MEMBERS, WE NEEDYOUR HELP!!!!

We the board of the Rice Lake Area Association welcome all of our members input and suggestions to fulfill what the Corporate Purpose of our association states.

We have heard what you had to say and our goal is to communicate more with all of our members on what the issues are and all that we are attempting to do.  We will be updating all our members on a quarterly basis.  We would appreciate it if you could send your email address’ to [email-masked]  so we could keep you updated in a cost efficient manner.  please check out our website for ongoing information and meeting minutes.      http://ricelake.homestead.com

Rice Lake characteristics

Shallow

Non-Public Access

Man made (Did you know that our lake and creek used to be fields for cattle to graze?)

Did you know we have over 100 square miles of run off entering into our creek and lake?

Did you know that we are on the federal Impaired Waters list as well as Elm Creek, but are way down on the list of priorities since we do not have a public access?

All of the above characteristics present us with a challenge in keeping our lake healthy and user friendly.

For the past few years, we have been doing very short term projects which are very expensive and do not have any long-term positive impact on our lake.  The city has been telling us that we need to begin doing more long-term projects or they will no longer participate in the funding of the short-term activities.  Because of this pressure as well as our vested interest in determining systemic problems and corrective courses of action, we are doing more pilot programs this year in order to begin a foundation of data.  Once we have enough proof of the causes of our lake condition, the City will become more involved in helping us correct the problems.

In this update, you will see the status of both short-term and longer-term projects.

ACTION PLANS

RLAA Short-term Projects update

·        Copper Sulfate Algae Treatment - Based on several factors including RLAA's current financial situation, the lateness of the summer season, the cooler nights, and the gradually-improving water quality conditions recently and the fact that we did not have enough YES votes from our homeowners. (The DNR requires us to have a minimum of 50% to go forward with the treatment), RLAA cannot pursue an algae treatment on Rice Lake at this time.

Drawdown of the Lake:  In years 2004 and 2005, we drew down the lake in order to curb the growth of Curly Leaf and Asian Milfoil weeds.  Because the drawdown’s worked, we have not needed to repeat the process. We now have some healthy foliage growing back into our lake which will help feed our fish, make our lake healthier and water clearer.

The latest Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level taken on Rice Lake on 7/23/08 ranged from 13.3mg/l (surface) to 3.84mg/l (bottom).  Last year on 8/9/07, the DO ranged from 6.44mg/l (surface) to 2.73mg/l (bottom).

This basically indicates that the level of oxygen in the water is greater now than it was last year between the 2 Copper Sulfate applications for the algae blooms. THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS!! And an indication that our lake is improving,

due to this increased oxygen level it is less likely that we would have a major fish kill like we have seen in the past.

RLAA Long-term Projects Update

the city and dnr require that we do monitoring of our water to measure the long-term health of our lake.  This will also enable the city of maple grove, to coninue to aid us in both the long and short term fixes.  the city did provide us with more funding this year after seeing our long term plans.  All of the aid was broke down by project.

Aquatic Plant Survey - The 2nd of two visits is scheduled for late August/early September.

Fish Survey - Scheduled for a 3 day period beginning August 18.  (This is important to determine what we have for game fish and our carp and bull head situation.  You all know that we have an over abundance of carp and by showing this in this test, could result in action in removal of the carp)

Barley Straw project - Steve McComas placed 300 lbs of pellets in the 2 storm water ponds on the east side of the lake. Objective is to see if the water filtered through those ponds is cleaner as it enters the lake after treatment.

Carp Enclosure - Project put on hold this year as the plant population seems to be doing better each year. Very little bare spots seem to exist in the shallows this season, which is the requirement for conducting this study.

Monitor Sediment in Lake Bottom - Project put on hold since consultant (James Johnson) didn't have time to conduct it this year.

Other RLAA Possible Projects

Algae Busters ultra-sonic product - Tom Dechmann and Wade Quale mentioned this relatively new product from a local company in Plymouth, MN. The goal is to remove algae from the water column with an ultra-sonic device which runs on 120 volt power. Tom will do some checking with his employer (Medtronic) to see if they may be interested in helping RLAA fund such a project. We are also checking to see if the company would be willing to donate a unit for us to use in our lake as a test zone.  Some possible test areas would include: boat ramp bay; Stromberg/Coumbe bay; Tristan Bay.

o       If someone has contacts that could help us raise money for this that would be great!  we’re estimating the cost for the algae buster would be around $3000.00/ea. and covers approximately 3 acres.  if this works, this would be a very effective long-term way to keep our water clean.

we are excited about this because we could put several of them in for the price of the algae treatment that continues to rise every year and have a long term fix.  wouldn’t that be awesome!!  We wouldn’t have to wait for and guess at the best time to treat since it only lasts for a short time.

What can you do to help?

RLAA Financial Status

The association has been spending more money than it has taken in over the past several years.  This is resulting in a reduction in the savings account and a genuine concern about monies available for expensive short-term projects such as the copper sulfate algae treatment.  We need to increase our membership (Right now we only have 46% of the homeowners that live on the lake or creek paying their dues) and revenue that we take in to cover both long-term and short-term projects.

we need your help in forming committees (suggestions are greatly appreciated) to help meet our financial and project goals.  we are asking for large numbers of our members to go to the city council meetings and voice their concerns.  this will help persuade the city to give us more financial aid.

RLAA 501c3 status

RLAA is legally classified as a 501c3 corporate, non-profit entity.  This means that any contributions made to RLAA, whether they are in the form of donations or dues paid, are fully tax deductible.  This non-profit classification should also be more appealing to local corporations who may have an interest in contributing to RLAA to improve our waters.

Again we just want to thank everyone for their imput and support.

Eric Lind (President):  [email-masked]

Rick Stulac (Treasurer):  [email-masked]

George Schneider (Secretary):  [email-masked]

Mathew Coumbe           Tom Dechmann                        Molly Kridel                   Jim Kridel        Mark Mitchell

Wade Quale                  Nika Rybinski                Jami Stromberg             Joni Stulac

Rice Lake Before (@1937)                                                     Rice Lake today (2006)

Elm Creek Watershed Area                                                Rice Lake Watershed area