07-22-1991 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND MANAC.ENfENT • Working Draft 7/11 The Nature of the Problem Minnetonka is a large group of interconnected lakes and bays in western Hennepin and northern Carver counties, but it is much more. It is an eco-system made up of organisms that live in, on or adjacent to the water bodies that make up the lake; and, in a broader sense, organisms that live within the watersheds that ultimately bring water, nutrients and pollutants into the lake. Like the organisms that depend on it, the Lake Minnetonka eco-system is complex, in a state of constant flux, and itself dependent on other organisms. And. like the organisms, the eco system that is Lake Minnetonka, can age and die. The aging and death of lakes is a natural process called "eutrophication". Sandy bottoms become mucky as runoff adds sands, silt, and nutrients to the lake ana as microbes, p'anls, fish and other organisms die and sink to the bottom. The mucky bottoms support more vegetative growth, which support a broader range of organisms, which die-off. filling the bottom of the lake and shallows with more muck, and so on. This process of aging is at work in Lake Minneionk.c and it has important implications for the entire eco-system. As the lakes become more shallow, they become less supportive of aquatic life. Fish eventually die off, the lake becomes a wetland, then a meadow, and eventually a woodland. Such changes do not happen overnight, but they do happen. The "natural" process will turn Lake Minnetonka into a sh^ow wetland, then into meadow, then into woodland. People can influence the natural process to speed it up or slow it down. Developmer t with its movement of soil and increase of impervious surfaces within the Lake Minnetonka watershed results in increased runoff and erosion, which can cany silt, vegetative matter and pollutants such as phosphorus and heavy metals into the lake. Use of fertilizers by homeowmers, business and farms within the watershed, can foster algae and other vegetative growth in the lake. Farms and even individual households with large animals may create problems when animal wastes are improperly managed. Improperly sited, constructe-J and maintained on-site septic systems can allow untreated or partially treated effluent to enter surface and groundwater within the watershed, which can ultimately impact lake water and hasten aging. The challenge facing those concerned with protecting Lake Minnetonka is to successfully balancing environmental and human imperatives. The problem is that while roost people and agencies recognize the need to protect the environment of Lake Minnetonka, there are a plethora of government entities that have jurisdiction over various aspects of the IMinnetonka cnvironmenL Overlapping jurisdictions and authoriries make it difficult to identify which government entity should be responsible for managing particular aspects of the lake. In some areas, there is needless duplication of effort among agencies while in other areas nothing is being done, because nobody is certain which agency ought to take the initiative to get things done. Environmental protection of Lake Minnetonka depends on improved cooperation and coordination among all managing entities, better intergovernmental relations, and on resolving jurisdictional issues among agencies. This chapter of the Management Plan for Lake Minnetonka establishes an overall goal for protecting the environment of Lake Minnetonka, proposes specific objectives that need to be accomplished ^fore the end of thk decade in order to properly manage the lake environment, and identifies the lead agencies and cooperating agencies that in the view of the Lake Minnetonka