Rice Lake Area Association

PO Box 1133

Maple Grove, MN  55311

Sept. 12, 2002

Attention Homeowners;

The Maple Grove City Council has authorized Rice Lake Area Association to coordinate a drawdown of Rice Lake for the winter of 2002-03.   We will commence the drawdown on Oct. 1st 2002.   We are undertaking this project to help manage the weed growth in Rice Lake that includes Eurasian Water Milfoil.

We have done this in 1998 and 1999 and the process will be similar this year.  The lake will drop approximately 1 foot every week for 4-5 weeks.  This means at the beginning of November the lake will be approximately 5 feet lower.  You will temporarily gain from 100 to 300 ft of shoreline.   We ask that you volunteer to help clean the shoreline with a coordinated effort from the City scheduled for Saturday Nov. 9th.

We ask that you remove your boat before Oct. 1st 2002.  If you do not remove your boat, you may have to leave it on the lake over the winter.  We recommend you remove your dock this year even though it will be out of water.

A condition of drawdown will be the installation of an aerator in the channel of the lake on the north side.  This aerator will operate during the winter to increase the oxygen level in the lake to help better sustain fish during the drawdown.  The aerator will cause a 250 square foot area of the lake to remain open during the winter.  This area will not freeze.  It will be marked with an orange fence and signs.  Please stay away from this area for your protection.

Next spring the lake could rise very quickly depending on rain and snow melt.  It should be back to normal by mid April.  As in previous years, we expect much less weed vegetation next summer because of this drawdown.

We ask that you support us in this endeavor and help us spread the word on the drawdown benefits to your neighbors.

More lake and member information is available at ww.ricelake.homestead.com

If you are not a member, we encourage you to join us.  If you are a member, thank you.

Rice Lake Area Association board members