11-10-2003 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2003 • (6. Stubbs Bay Water Quality Improvements Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, Continued) Internal nutrient concentrations increase following the spring and fall turnover. The external loading would continue to increase with the increase of developed conditions as projected according to the Met Council 2020 plan. Currently about 29% of the land around the bay is developed as single family home, which could become 63% with fully developed conditions, leading to additional nutrient spread off the land and into the lake. Gaffron stated that the way Met Council reports could have some inaccuracies. He would expect much less of an increase in development around the bay. Wyatt stated that his charts show 516 acres of land in current use. With total development, and the agricultural and farmstead land completely eliminated, they would have 1,151 developed acres of single family residential. Gaffron stated that the northeast portion of the watershed is the most likely to get developed and the rest of the area is not likely to be further developed. Wyatt stated that as the land is developed to whatever degree, increased use would result in increased external loading of nutrients. The issue should be addressed in a management plan. In improving the water quality, both the internal and external nutrient loads would have to be addressed. Wyatt stated that the Watershed District would like guidance as to how • much the City would like to improve the water quality, if at all. From their lake response model, to reduce the frequency of the algae blooms by 30% would require reducing the total phosphorus load by 50 %, which is a significant number. • Wyatt stated he came to present the study results and to ask the City if they would like the Watershed District to continue with the feasibility project. They have budgeted for it and are prepared to do it. They would look for a partnership with the City to engage the area residents, the direct stakeholders, who are living on and around the bay to find out what sort of improvements they would like. They would need to find a happy medium between leaving the bay as is, and completely eliminating phosphorus. As water clarity increases, so does submergent vegetation, such as milfoil. Stubbs Bay does not currently have a milfoil problem. They would also conduct a cost - benefit analysis and consider a long -term solution that takes into account area development. Chemical alteration of the lake would require repeated cost assessments after determining how often treatments would need to be repeated. They would manage the internal and external factors of the lake to find a balance that achieves the goal for the bay. White asked about lakeshore restoration as part of the solution, with resident participation in restoring natural vegetation. Wyatt replied that could be part of the project, and that the Watershed District is interested in promoting that kind of shoreline stabilization over traditional riprap. Wyatt stated that the MCWD completed a comprehensive hydrologic 9of16