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l>0xFT 2 l/OrO <br />CIIAPTER3 <br />PART <br />ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PLAN <br />THE NATURAL SETTING <br />The City of Orono is perhaps unique among communities in this area in relation to <br />the amount of relatively undisturbed natural resource areas contained within the City <br />boundaries including lakes, marshes, wetlands, and woodlands. The presence and <br />character of these attractive amenities has been a major factor affecting the original <br />settlement and subsequent development of the City. The protection and preser\ation <br />of these resources as part of our local heritage, and in our citizens' continuing vital <br />interest, is the foremost goal of this Community Management Plan. <br />Lake Minnetonka is the single most significant natural feature in Orono and in <br />the entire western part of Hennepin Countj*. Lake Minnetonka, as shown on Map <br />Figure No._, is actually a series of separate lakes or "bays" interconnected by <br />narrows or channels. Some bays are up to 90 feet deep while other areas are <br />extremely sliallow. Lake Minnetonka outlets at Gray's Bay in the City of Minnetonka, <br />into Minnehaha Creek and eventually into the Mississippi River. <br />Lake Minnetonka is the tenth largest lake in Minnesota. Lake Minnetonka has <br />a surface area of approximately 14.310 acres (5+t5 22.4 square miles) and a capacity <br />of 400,000 acre feet of water at the normal lake elevation of 929.4 ft. MSL. The total <br />watershed is 123 square miles in area which includes 71 square miles of dr\’ land, 22 <br />square miles of marshland and 7 square miles ot other water bodies. With its many <br />bays and channels. Lake Minnetonka has over 100 approximately 130 miles of <br />shoreline. <br />Lake Minnetonka has substuntial public value as a recreational asset, as an <br />environmental resource and as a setting for private residential development. Lake <br />Minnetonka's closeness to Minneapolis combined with its size have long given it a <br />unique status among the lakes in Minnesota. In the 1880's. Minnetonka became a <br />nationallv known resort area and has been a favorite locale for summer and suburban <br />homes for generations. From the viewpoint of the fisherman, the lower lake <br />resembles the more nonliem waters of the state, whereas the upper lake and its bays <br />resemble southern Minnesota waters. The large size of the lower lake is a major <br />attraction for sailboaters while the \ ariety of bays, channels and water routes ofler <br />attraction to the casual boater. <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br />I <br />1 <br />1 <br />:i <br />mi I <br />CMP 3A - 1