04-14-1986 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Recommendation That the MCTFLM report descrihe `he issue and recommend further study on use from commercial access as an mrortant data source to guide several surface use decisions. Specificaily, it would be very helpful to determine the following characteristics about users from commercial access f `5: - Numbers and use t as; - Type of use; ant - Origin, destiny on and zones or sub zones of greatest use. The information should be acquired with other information in the process recom- mended by MCTFLM whicn calls f.)r a more active LMCD, working in conjunction with continued research by PNR and by the Metropolitan Council. ISSUE 8: RESEARCH ON RECREATION USE OF LAKE MINNETONKA Introduction Several agencies and groups have co ducted research recreational use Lake Minnetonka. The issue for the task force was whether any of this data is of sufficient quality to be of use in making policy decisions regarding lake use. n order to judge the quality of data, one must consider its: Validity, that is, whether the research method yielded a true picture of use at the time the data was collected, and 2. Reliability, ti is, tihether the research method was repeated often enough to account i.)- ne variation in use that occurs at different times, on different days and under varying use conditions. Each source of data on lake use will be evaluated on these tF-o points. Who Has Collected Data on Use of Lake Minnetonka? Several agencies have collected data on use of Lake Minnetonka. The following five efforts have yielded data useful in task force discussions. Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD) The LMCD has collected data on surface use and shoreline boat storage for several years, the last being done in 1982. Surface use data includes numbers of boats in various parts of the lake at peak times on summer peak day The boats are classified as to type. Pric.• to 1981. the counts were made from an airplane. In 1981 and 1983, counts were made from aerial photographs. Boats stored in slips along the shoreline have been counted +r•d classified for several years as well. This is generaily done at a low use time -f the season when the maximum number of boats are li-.ely io be i, '.heir slips. The counts are made by boat. 2. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) The DNR has conducted two different kinds of studies on Lake Minnetonka. First, the standard "creel census" work done as part of ongoing fish man- agement of the lake. The most recent of these studies was done in 1975. 20