Potato Lake Preliminary Lake Property Owners Survey Presentation - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Potato Lake Preliminary Lake Property Owners Survey Presentation October 23 th , 2010 Prepared by: Dave Blumer

Survey Particulars • Potato Lake – 75 surveys distributed – 46 surveys returned – 61% return rate • Who? – 33 of 46 put their names to the survey – 21 of those provided emails

Section One-Residency Potato # of Ave Yrs on Range of Ave # Lake Responses Lake Years Residents Permanent 4 19 12-31 2.75 Seasonal 31 10 0.5-26 3.0 < seas/unde 6 19 7-57 3.34 Other 3 15.5 3.5-25 3.0 Overall 44 12.4 0.5-57 2.9 Potato < 1 yr 1-5 yrs 6-10 11-20 21-30 >30 yrs Lake yrs yrs yrs Perm 0 0 0 3 0 1 Seas 1 8 7 13 2 0 < seas 0 0 4 0 1 1 Other 0 1 0 1 1 0 Overall 1 9 11 17 4 2

Other Residency Information • Average time spent at the lake – Permanent = 251 days/year – Seasonal = 87 days/year – <Seasonal = 55 days/year – Other = 138 days/year – Overall = 101 days/year

Section 2 – Lake Use • Personal Watercraft (9%) • Rest/relaxation (89%) • Sailing (7%) • Wildlife viewing (78%) • Other (4%) • Swimming/wading (78%) • Wild rice harvest (2%) • Boat Fishing (70%) • Shore Fishing (63%) • Pontoon Boating (61%) • Canoe/kayaking (59%) • Skiing/tubing (48%) • Speed boating (13%)

What are the main activities on the lakes? Who? #1 #2 #3 #4 All Rest/relax Boat fish Pontoon - Respondent Permanent Boat fish Shore fish View wild - Seasonal Rest/relax Boat fish Pontoon View wild <Seasonal Rest/relax Pontoon Swim/wade View wild How often are these activities participated in? 73% of all respondents do these things 3-4 times a month to several times a week

Type of Watercraft Owned Type of Watercraft (%) Motor boat <50 52 Motor boat >50 28 Pontoon boat 61 Paddle boat 35 Canoe/kayak 59 Sailboat 4 PWC 9 Other (rowboat/deck) 4 No watercraft 4

Section Three – Lake Stewardship Septic Systems • 93% of Potato Lake septic systems have been inspected in the last 5 years – 17 holding tanks – 23 conventional systems – 6 other

Most Desirable Shoreline Managed Unman. Mowed to Natural (%) Natural (%) water (%) Permanent 50 50 0 Seasonal 48 48 3 <Seas 33 17 50 Other 67 33 0 Overall 48 43 9

What shoreland improvement practices are you familiar with? • Native tree/flower • Not fertilizing planting (37%) (83%) • Prairie restoration • Zero P fertilizer (30%) (65%) • Diversion of • Shoreline buffers surface water (65%) (24%) • Rain gardens(52%) • Runoff reduction • Septic Upgrades (20) (52%)

What is currently being done? • At least 10% response rate – No fertilizer (76%) – Shoreland buffers (35%) – Native plantings (28%) – Zero P fertilizer (28%) – Shoreland restoration (24%) – Septic upgrade (15%) – Runoff reduction (11%) – 7% have not installed anything

What would motivate you to install additional shoreland BMP’s? – Improving water quality in lake (80%) – Improving water quality by my shore (72%) – Better fish habitat (67%) – Habitat for birds and wildlife (61%) – Increasing natural beauty (59%) – Tax rebate (39%) – Set an example (28%) – Financial assistance (26%) – Technical assistance (20%) – Less mowing time (17%) – Just not interested! (11%)

Section 4 – Lake Issues • Too much weed growth (76%) • Green water (67%) • Poor fishing (61%) • AIS Introduction (50%) • Too much public use (41%) • Overdeveloped shore (33%) • Low water (22%) • Odor (22%) • Too much wild rice (15%)

Main Issues of Concern • Overall – Weed growth, water quality, aquatic invasive species, and fishing • Permanent – Weed growth, water quality, and foul odor • Seasonal – Water quality, weed growth, aquatic invasive species, and fishing • <Seasonal – Weed growth, water quality, public use, and

Water Quality (% of Responses) excellent good fair poor Very poor Perm 0 0 75 0 25 Seas 0 29 68 3 0 <Seas 0 0 80 0 0 Other 0 25 50 0 0 Overall 0 23 68 2 2

How has aquatic plant growth changed? % of respondents increase same decrease IDK Perm 50 25 0 25 Seas 56 27 7 10 <Seas 80 20 0 0 Other 25 25 25 25 Overall 56 26 7 12 increase same decrease IDK Seasonal 53 33 0 14 <20 yrs Seasonal 60 20 13 7 >20 yrs Respondents feel July and August are the worst months for weed growth

Lake Level • The water level is … – Too high (7%) – Just right (77%) – Too low (7%) – Unsure (9%) • Has low water ever prevented you from using the lake? – 93% said “no”

Wild Rice • 75% of respondents would probably recognize wild rice – 54% think it a valuable resource – 67% know it is protected – 30% know it can’t be legally removed – 15% thought it could be legally removed – 2% think it is a nuisance with no resource value

Section Five – Aquatic Invasive Species Curly-leaf Pondweed (CLP) Knowledge % of Resp Identify % of Resp a lot 7 Definitely 7 Some 26 Probably 18 Very little 51 Unsure 20 Only from this 16 Probably Not 39 survey Definitely Not 16

Section Five – Aquatic Invasive Species Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM) Knowledge % of Resp Identify % of Resp a lot 9 Definitely 9 Some 55 Probably 45 Very little 27 Unsure 9 Only from this 9 Probably Not 25 survey Definitely Not 11

Section Five – Aquatic Invasive Species Purple Loosestrife Knowledge % of Resp Identify % of Resp a lot 9 Definitely 12 Some 39 Probably 26 Very little 39 Unsure 14 Only from this 14 Probably Not 33 survey Definitely Not 16

57% of respondents might be willing to take part in an AIS Training Session!

Section 6 – Aquatic Plant Management • Is it necessary? Permanent Seasonal <Seasonal Other Overall Definitely 25 38 20 25 33 Probably 25 28 20 50 29 Unsure 25 24 40 25 26 Prob. not 0 7 20 0 7 Def. not 25 3 0 0 5 What kind of plants should be managed? Submerged 88% Emergent 54% Floating leaf 77% Shoreline 35%

Aquatic Plant Management Alternatives Potato Lake Support/Opposition Alternative Support (%) Oppose (%) More Info (%) Small-scale 39 11 50 mech Large-scale 35 10 55 mech Hand 69 0 31 pulling/rake Small-scale 24 37 39 chem Large-scale 10 38 51 chem Biological 26 21 53 No 13 46 41 management

Aquatic Plant Removal • Have you removed • How did you plants from the remove plants lake? from the lake? – 52% said yes – Hand pulling and raking (55%) – 45% said no – Self-mechanical (5%) – Self-chemical (2%)

Section Seven – Community Support • What would you be willing to do? – Watercraft inspection (37%) – AIS monitoring (26%) – Raising beetles (4%) – Aquatic plant monitoring (20%) – Water quality monitoring (30%) – Wildlife monitoring (28%) – Not interested in volunteering time (33%) • How much time will you part with? – A few hours (15), a few days (8), longer (6)

Potato Lake Association (PLA) • Have you ever attended a PLA meeting? • 84% yes, 16% no • Are current meeting dates OK? – Most said the Saturday of Memorial Day in the morning was OK – One person suggested Labor Day weekend • What is your affiliation with the PLA? • 84% members, 16% are former members • Why aren’t you a member? – Not interested, didn’t know about it, not enough time, no benefit, haven’t paid my dues, was treated rudely

Satisfaction with the PLA Potato Responses (%) Satisfied Unsure Dissatisfied Communication 93 7 0 Meet frequency 79 18 3 Meet atmosphere 86 13 1 VLA Business 87 13 0 Promote Coop 85 10 5 Finances 79 15 6 Listening 70 20 10

Additional Issues • Phosphorous loading • Big waves eroding shoreline • Over fishing in the winter • Trespassing • Enforce boating regulations • Do something about the muck in the bottom • Create a no wake time on the lake • What can be done about algae in the wild rice • Improve water quality • Big black globs of algae • Decrease weeds • No parking signs at the • Improve the fishery landing • Set and keep a determined • What is next? lake level • Survey all septic systems

The Black Globs! • The dominant algae in the black masses is probably Aphanocapsa, which is a blue-green colonial algae. • This algae probably produced most of the transparent mucilage that forms the massive colonies. • Microcystis, another blue-green algae, is growing within the colony and is producing the streaks of coloration.

Next Steps • Complete the first two phases of this project including the APM Plan • Seek final reimbursement • Apply for a small-scale AIS education, prevention, and planning grant project to support watercraft inspection, in-lake AIS monitoring, and AIS educational activities • Think about the other phases that were talked about in the initial project – See budget sheet for Phases 3 and 4 – These phases were initially set up to address many of the nutrient loading issues and what can and should be done about them

The End Questions