Prior Lake Smarts
Lake Clean-Up Day is Saturday, June 14th - May 24, 2008
The City of Prior Lake has proclaimed and designated June 14 as its official
Lake Clean-Up Day. The city is asking lakeshore owners to clean up their own
beach areas. The Prior Lake Association (PLA) is partnering with a group of
scuba divers from the Prior Lake area, but all scuba divers are welcome to
participate in Lake Clean-Up Day. The dive will be conducted from 8 to noon
on Saturday, June 14th at Captain Jacks. The PLA will provide the
participating divers with a boat ride to their dive locations and provide a
platform to store their "treasures."
The PLA is seeking volunteer boaters to bring divers to their dive areas and
provide assistance as the divers bring up the debris. Boaters will be
provided with dive bags and tarps to collect the retrieved items and to keep
their boats clean. Divers and boaters interested in participating with this
dive event are asked to contact Donna Mankowski at (612) 964-6808.
The PLA is also beginning its fundraising efforts to secure the monies for
our annual Fourth of July fireworks. Thanks in advance to all members and
business sponsors who have contributed to this great show.
In other lake news, the water elevation as of Wednesday, May 21 was 902.78,
slightly down from last week. The water clarity in Upper Prior Lake was 10.5
feet, an increase of five feet in a week as the brown algae has disappeared.
The water surface temperature has increased six degrees to 61 degrees.
Enjoy your lake, boat safely, and obey the rules in the No-Wake areas.
The Handling Difference between Cars and Boats - May 17, 2008
Sometimes there seems to be confusion or misunderstanding between operating a motor vehicle on the roadways, (with brakes and firm, positive steering), and operating a watercraft (with no brakes and no firm, positive steering) on a body of water. A motor vehicle can be safely driven within a few feet of another motor vehicle as on a multi-lane highway or passing another vehicle. This is not true when operating a watercraft and is unsafe and dangerous.
Boating rules and laws state that a passing watercraft must keep a sufficient distance away to avoid a collision or endanger any other watercraft from its wake. A watercraft's wake must not endanger, harass or interfere with any person, property or other watercraft. So watch your wake - is it rocking other boats so that their passengers have to hang on to avoid being tossed about? Also when the Scott County Water Patrol has stopped another watercraft, be sure that your wake does not toss those two boats about. The Water Patrol states that they and their watercraft are frequently tossed about by other watercraft coming too close to their stopped watercraft. A ticket can (and should) be issued for endangering, harassing or interfering with the deputy's official duties.
In other lake news, the Secchi Transparency Summary for 2007 was Mean 3.8 feet, Minimum 2.0 feet, and Maximum was 7.0 feet. The long term trend data from 1980 to 2007 shows slow improvement form 2.6 feet to 3.3 feet. The current reading as of Wednesday, May 14 was 5.0 feet. The inflow stream from Spring Lake is running vigorously, and is well over the spillway at Jeffers Pond. The elevation is 902.90 feet, the same as last week. The surface water temperature was 55 degrees. Enjoy your lake, think safety and give other boats plenty of leeway.
May 4th Boat Safety Clinic - April 26, 2008
The Prior Lake Association will be giving a boat safety clinic which will take place on Saturday, May 3, starting promptly at 8:00 AM. It will be in the lecture hall at the Prior Lake High School, 7575 - 150th St., Savage. Advance registration is required. Call (952) 226-0080 to register for Course 2555A. There is a fee.
The instructor will discuss safe boat handling skills, new boating and watercraft ordinances, navigation procedures and aids, safe boating and watercraft techniques and required operator permits/licenses. The students will complete a Dept. of Natural Resources workbook. (Bring pencils.) Additionally, students will see demonstrations of techniques and equipment used by the Scott County Sheriffs Dept. given by Deputy Bret Krick, and DNR Resources, Conservation officer Adam Block. Lunch will be provided by Prior Lake Domino's Pizza following the clinic, which is co-sponsored by the Prior Lake Association, the Prior Lake-Savage Community Education, the Scott County Sheriffs Dept., and the Minnesota DNR.
Nature note: The ice went out on Upper Prior Lake early on Monday, April 21, at least a week later than average. Two white pelicans, a pair of loons and many species of ducks and other water fowl have been seen on open water. Two Hooded Merganser hens have already laid seven eggs in their respective nest boxes.
In other lake news, the inflow stream from Spring Lake is running well, and water was running over the spillway on Jeffers Pond. The water elevation was 902.78 as of Wednesday, April 23, with the water looking somewhat turbid. Enjoy the open water, but use your PFDs as the water is shockingly cold.Keep docks, boat lifts within property lines
As docks and boat lifts are placed in the lake, consider
your neighbors' lake views and property rights before planning lakeshore
use. Locate or design temporary structures that do not cause users to
encroach into any nearby dock use area. To avoid interfering with your
neighbors' property rights docks should be placed so that mooring and
maneuvering of watercraft can normally be confined within the property lines
if they were extended into the water. Some local units of government
have adopted ordinances regulating docks because of landowner conflicts
(based on
Minnesota Statutes 103G, Public Waters Work Permit Program Rules Chapter
6115.)
The Scott County Sheriff's Water Patrol has begun
enforcing permit laws for items on the lake that aren't attached to the
shore. Permits are required for 150-foot no-wake buoys, loading docks,
wakeboard rails, swimming platforms and any other items that are placed on
the lake. Permits are free and can be obtained by calling the
Sheriff's Office at (952) 496-8322.
Study Shows Links to Frog Deformities - April 12, 2008
A study by the University of Colorado researchers
published last fall in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"
shows a definitive link between fertilizer and pesticide run-off from farms
and lake shore lawns to deformities in frogs (first discovered in Minnesota
in the mid-1990s.) The study showed that increased levels of nitrogen and
phosphorus caused sharp spikes in the abundance and reproduction of a snail
that hosts microscopic parasites. The parasites form cysts in the
developing limbs of tadpoles, causing missing limbs, extra limbs and other
severe malformations.
A third of the world's 6,000 amphibian species are
considered threatened, and 43 percent are declining in population.
While causes range from habitat loss to disease, researchers are exploring
how nutrient pollution and limb malformations contribute to the pattern.
(Excerpted from the "Minnesota
Environment" publication , Vol.7, No.3, winter 2008 by the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency. For a free subscription to "Minnesota
Environment" contact Barbara Hannegan at 651-296-6619.)
When applying fertilizer to the lawn this spring,
remember that only phosphorus-free fertilizer is legal. Phosphorus is
the middle number on the bag, i.e. 15-0-10.
The Prior Lake Association is again sponsoring a boat
safety clinic for persons ages 12 to 17 at the Prior Lake High School
lecture hall at 8 am, Saturday, May 3. Advance registration is
required. Call 952-226-0080 to register for Course #2555A. There
is a fee of $5 ($3 if registering online).
In other lake news, the inflow stream from Spring Lake is
running and showing white water rapids. The lake is beginning to show
open water around the edges, so the lake could be ice-free within ten days.
Enjoy watching for ice-out!
Lake Smarts articles are written by the Prior Lake Association and are printed weekly in the Prior Lake American.
