Photo credit: Eleanor Burkett

Karen Terry, University of Minnesota Extension, 888-241-0843

Have you ever been curious about the water quality in your lake or river and wondered what makes it better or worse? Do you have an erosion problem on your shoreline that you just don’t know how to fix? Curious about the rain gardens everyone is talking about these days? Or would you like to learn to identify those plants that grow in the water?

To learn answers to these and other questions, check out the lineup of workshops offered by the University of Minnesota Extension’s Shoreland Education Team. These workshops are designed to help you learn how to protect and improve water quality while creating and maintaining a healthy and attractive shoreline. Don’t see what you’re looking for? The Shoreland Education Team will develop workshops that fit your needs!

Shoreland Best Practices

Focuses on the hows’ and ‘whys’ of lakes, rivers, and watersheds. Teaches the basics of ecology, and can be tailored to suit your group’s interests.

Erosion Control for Property Owners

Teaches how to evaluate the condition of a shoreline, select the appropriate erosion control measure, and develop a lake-friendly stabilization plan for your shoreline.

Monitoring for Bacteria or Macroinvertebrates

Helps you characterize the health of your lake or stream based on the bacteria and macroinvertebrates living there.

Rain Gardens

Instructs you how to design and install a rain garden to minimize stormwater runoff on your property. The workshop also offers a hands-on component on installing a rain garden.

Aquatic or Wetland Plant Identification

Identify those mystery plants in your lake and learn how to use plant keys to determine which plants are growing in your lake, river, or wetland.

Algae Management

Explains why algae are a problem on some lakes, and shows you how to identify the algae.You will also learn about methods for managing and controlling algae.

Shoreland Landscaping

Offered as a series of introductory, advanced, hands-on planting and maintenance workshops. Taking them all is not required but many people do; these are popular classes. You will learn about landscaping projects that anyone can undertake to improve lakeshore or riverbank property.

Curlyleaf Pondweed Management

Even if curlyleaf pondweed has not invaded your lake, this workshop will teach you how to identify it, understand its unique life history, and help prevent new introductions.

Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!

Teaches about the exotic plants and animals that live in your lake or river that you could do without, including how to identify them, what threats they pose, and what you can do to prevent their spread.

If you are interested in any of these workshops, check out the most up-to-date calendar online at http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shore/calendar/ or contact any of the educators listed at the end of this article to set up a workshop. Workshops are typically sponsored by a group such as a lake association, local unit of government, conservation organization, or watershed district, and can be held anywhere in Minnesota. You can download a brochure with more information about these workshops here.

Shoreland Education Contacts

Karen Terry

Fergus Falls, MN

888-241-0843

Eleanor Burkett

Brainerd, MN

888-241-0720

Mary Blickenderfer

Grand Rapids, MN

888-241-0885

Mary Blickenderfer, University of Minnesota Extension, 888-241-0885

Answer: Due to lack of snow cover, we anticipate a “bumper crop” of both this year!

It’s still winter 2007, but shoreland professionals are already anticipating a flood of phone calls this spring from shoreland property owners wanting to know what to do about the mountainous soil ridges (“ice ridges”) along their shoreline and the dense mat of “weeds” floating on their lake. Let’s take a closer look at both…

Ice ridges form when a moving ice sheet pushes up soil along a shoreline – much like a bulldozer. This can happen during a single, spring “ice-out” event or less noticeably as an ice sheet freezes and gradually expands throughout the winter. Anyone who has experienced frozen water pipes understands that water expands as it changes from a liquid to a solid. Similar forces may arise as our lakes freeze. In addition, a rise in air temperature during a typical winter day (or an approaching warm air mass) will cause the ice sheet to expand slightly, exerting a force outward. Then, as the air temperature cools at night (or with an approaching cold air mass) ice will contract, but it lacks the internal (tensile) strength to shrink back to its original size. Instead it cracks under tension, often producing a gap along the length of the crack into which lake water will seep. As this water freezes it expands, exerting an additional force outward. Under these forces, ice will sometimes buckle in the middle of the lake, but most often the force of the expanding ice is transmitted to the surrounding shores.

During a typical Minnesota winter, deep snow insulates the underlying ice sheet from temperature fluctuations and the ice sheet expands very little. However, during winters of little or no snow cover, ice exposed to daily and other periodic air temperature fluctuations will expand, exerting 8 tons per square foot of force on our shorelines. What happens to our shorelines as a result of this force depends upon many factors; several are related to the level of shoreline development. Undeveloped shorelines often have small, natural ice ridges, but incur relatively little ice damage compared to that of developed shorelines where it is common to see overturned rip rap, retaining walls thrust into the air, whole slabs of lake sediment deposited onto lawns, and ice ridges two feet high (see the Ice Damage Photo Contest announcement in this issue). For information and resources on how to deal with ice ridges, see “It’s Rough to Have Ridges – Living with Ice Ridges on Your Shoreline” in the From Shore to Shore March-April 2006 issue (http://shorelandmanagement.org/downloads/mar_apr06.pdf).

Curlyleaf pondweed is an aquatic invasive plant species that was introduced to the U.S. in the 1800s and has since spread to many bodies of water. It has a unique life cycle. Sprouting in autumn from dormant buds, called turions, which lie on the lake bottom, the young plants remain alive under the ice during the winter, giving them a jumpstart on the native plants that remain dormant until spring. Their competitive advantage over native aquatic plants tends to be even greater in years of little or no snow cover because their growth is more vigorous due to the additional light they receive through the ice. If you suspect curlyleaf pondweed is growing in your lake, you should consult with your local or regional Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries office.

Philip Hunsicker, 1000 Friends of Minnesota, 218-824-5095

Not all development is bad. When development is good, it is worth recognizing. The Lake-Friendly Development Awards recognize homeowners, contractors and local units of government that have developed or redeveloped lakeshore or riverfront properties in full compliance with shoreland zoning ordinances and ecologically sustainable principles. The hope is that these awards will encourage ecologically sensitive development trends along lakeshore and rivers.

Lake-friendly landscape award winners include Laurel Mezner who put down her beach rake and installed a 25-foot buffer on her property, and Todd and Tonya Person who restored approximately 135 by 35 feet of lakeshore on Gilbert Lake in Brainerd by installing a buffer of native plants. Also the Whitefish Area Property Owners Association and Rush Lake Association together with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), University of Minnesota Extension Service, Crow Wing County Soil and Water Conservation District, Crow Wing County Parks Department and many volunteers installed a 1,635 foot erosion control research and demonstration project on two public islands on Rush Lake of the Whitefish Chain.

The lake-friendly home construction award went to ETOC Development, Inc., for a conservation design residential development called Fawn Ridge, located in Nisswa. With 16 clustered home sites on 42 acres, Fawn Ridge incorporated conservation design principles such as shared septic systems, common areas, community docks and a nature trail system. Streets were designed to allow natural runoff and minimize ground erosion. The clustered home sites allow acres of open space and to preserve natural surroundings. Buffers are maintained along the shoreline and next to wetlands. Conservation design neighborhoods like Fawn Ridge allow communities to achieve both their development and conservation objectives at the same time.

Two projects received awards for the category of “lakefriendly protection strategy.” The award recipients include the DNR Alternative Shoreland Management Standards for the 5-County North Central Region, led by Russ Schultz and Paul Radomski of the DNR, along with a citizen’s advisory committee. Also honored were the Kathio Garrison Mille Lacs Sanitary Sewer District and the Mille Lacs Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant for their lakefriendly protection strategy to preserve Mille Lacs Lake. The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians’ tribal government partnered with the City of Garrison and Kathio and Garrison Townships to preserve the water quality through a sanitary sewer district and a regional wastewater treatment plant. This partnership will ensure that wastewater does not pollute the general water supply or degrade the water quality of Lake Mille Lacs.

These awards are co-sponsored by 1000 Friends of Minnesota, the Brainerd Lakes Area Audubon Society, Minnesota Waters, the Crow Wing County Lakes and Rivers Alliance, the DNR, the Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, The Nature Conservancy and A.W. Research Laboratories.

Left: Installing a rain garden. Right: Shoreland buffer planting on Shirt Lake.

The Shirt Lake Association (Aitkin County) hosted a workshop on Shoreland Planting and an Introduction to Shoreland Landscaping this summer in Deerwood. Participants received both classroom design instruction and hands-on planting experience including aquatic, wetland and upland plants. A rain garden was planted at one site to capture and prevent storm-water from entering the lake.

Greg Berg, Stearns County SWCD, discusses successful erosion control application on a steep bank.

Seventeen participants attended the Shoreland Maintenance workshop held in Sauk Centre on August 16. Participants compared various treatments at four sites, with discussions led by Eleanor Burkett and Mary Blickenderfer (U of M Extension Service) on maintenance issues and potential solutions, management techniques, and plant identification of “weed” and desirable species. This workshop was co-sponsored by the Sauk River Watershed District and the Stearns Soil and Water Conservation District.

Installing native plants for wetland and upland buffer at Wildwood Resort.

Mary Blickenderfer, University of Minnesota Extension Service, 888-241-0885

Itasca Soil and Water Conservation District is sponsoring University of Minnesota Extension Shoreland workshops and buffer project cost-share over the next two years to promote shoreland stewardship in Itasca County. Pictured are several participants of the September 2005 Introduction to Shoreland Landscaping Workshop learning to install a 200-foot shoreland buffer at Wildwood Resort during a May 2006 Shoreland Planting Workshop near Grand Rapids. These “graduates” went on to install six additional buffer projects on their own properties by the end of May. They will attend the Shoreland Maintenance Workshop later this summer to learn how to fine-tune their projects.

Planting bulrush for wave break and fish habitat.

Participants of Extension’s May 24, 2006 Erosion Control Workshop take their knowledge of bioengineering gleaned in the morning classroom session into the field to stabilize failing slopes of the Rapid River near Baudette. The steep and slippery clay slopes and fluctuating water level, common in the northwestern part of the state, offered challenges to the participants installing “brush mattresses” and “live fascines.” This one-day workshop was sponsored by the Lake of the Woods and Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Installing erosion control blanket and live fascines.

Dawn Dubats, Rice Creek Watershed District, 763-398-3078

Native plants can improve water quality and help with drainage problems by reducing the “squishy” spots in your lawn. So why isn’t everyone planting natives? Part of the problem has been that native plants are harder to find in retail stores.

The Rice Creek Watershed District developed a program called “One-Stop Shopping to Restore Your Yard & Shore” to make it easy for watershed residents to find these beneficial native plants. A web site has been developed and displays were posted at area garden retailers to help people learn the how to’s of rain gardens and lakeshore restoration. While all of the participating retailers are in the Twin Cities area, anyone can use the web site, which includes a plant selector tool. You simply enter your parameters into the site — for example, a flowering plant for a shady wet spot — and it will provide you with a list of native plants. The garden centers that provide space and support for the One-Stop displays are: Landscape Alternatives in Roseville, Lebens Floral at Old Town Market in Hugo, Linder’s Garden Center in St. Paul, and Rice Creek Gardens in Blaine.

Why are native plants so effective in improving water quality? The answer is largely due to their extensive roots, which sometimes extend 16 feet down. These roots anchor soil, decreasing erosion and suspended sediment that can make lakes and streams cloudy. If the plants are planted as a “buffer” between a yard and the lake, the roots act as a filter and absorb polluted run-off and excess nutrients before they enter the lake. When planted in the lake, native plants produce oxygen and provide habitat for fish and wildlife.

Valerie Prax, University of Minnesota Extension Service, 320-225-5054

With fall upon us, it is time to think about how to protect your septic system from freezing this winter.

The most common reason septic systems freeze are a lack of snow cover and cold temperatures, combined with construction or “use” issues. These can include a waterlogged system, cold air entering the system, compacted soil, or lack of plant cover. Others include irregular use of the system, leaking plumbing fixtures or a pipe that’s not installed with the proper change of elevation. If the soil over a pipe is compacted, the elevation of the pipe may shift, causing a loss of gravity flow. This results in water left standing in pipes, which can freeze easily.

If your system freezes, you should contact a professional sewage pumper or installer who can help determine the cause of the problem and offer solutions. The University of Minnesota Onsite Sewage Program Web site at http://septic.umn.edu/homeowner/index.html has detailed information on septic system freezing problems. It can also help you locate a professional in your area.

There are many things you can do to reduce the chances of your system freezing this winter. Here are some precautions if you think you may have a problem.

• Add a layer of mulch (8-12 inches) over the pipes, tank, and soil treatment area to provide insulation. A mulch of loose hay or straw works well, as do leaves. The key is to keep it loose to form air pockets, which act as the insulators. This is particularly important if your system is new, and vegetative cover has not been well established.
• Use normal amounts of water; the warmer the better. Spread out your laundry schedule to one warm/hot load per day, a pattern that should be followed year-round. *DO NOT leave water running all the time, this will hydraulically overload the system. DO NOT add antifreeze to the system.
• If you plan to be gone for more than a day or two, plan accordingly. Have someone visit and use water regularly. If you are going to be gone for an extended period (weeks or months), your best option may to be pump your tank before leaving.
• Fix any leaky plumbing in your home. The small trickles of water going into the system can freeze as thin ice layers within pipes, and eventually close them. If you have a high-efficiency furnace, collect the water in a large container, emptying onto the ground periodically. This does not need to go into your septic system - it is clean water.
• Keep all types of vehicles— including ATVs and snowmobiles— and high-traffic people activities off the system. This is a good rule to follow all year. Mound systems are not 4-wheeler jumps!
• Make sure all risers, inspection pipes, and manholes have covers. Adding insulation is a good idea.
• Keep an eye on your system. If any seeping or ponding occurs, contact an onsite professional to help determine the cause and remedy.

For more information about proper operation of septic systems, see our web site.

Sea Grant signs.

Submitted by: Barbara Liukkonen, Minnesota Sea Grant Program, 612-625-9256Recent news stories about finding zebra mussels in Mille Lacs have reminded us about the impacts that non-native plants, fish, and other animals may have on Minnesota’s waters, and highlighted the expense and effort needed to control them. While non-native species do not always pose a threat, some can out-compete native species, contributing to loss of native plant communities and habitat for fish and wildlife, resulting in economic and recreational impacts.

Non-native plants and fish are often the centerpieces of water gardens, adding interest and beauty, but if these species escape or are released in our lakes and streams, they may have significant ecological effects. In 2002, research at the University of Minnesota Horticulture Department, indicated it is easy to receive prohibited invasive species through catalogs and the Internet and that 92.5% of plant orders included unintended “hitchhikers.”

To further identify the potential for introducing aquatic invasive species through water gardening and to help stop the spread of those invasive species, a research study and outreach effort was sponsored by Minnesota Sea Grant in collaboration with the Minnesota Water Garden Society, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association.

In 2004, we queried water gardeners, Master Gardeners, and shoreland property owners with an online or written survey, and conducted one-on-one interviews with 37 nursery and landscape design professionals in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. The survey tools were designed to measure awareness and knowledge levels, identify their sources of plants and information, characterize sales and gardening practices, investigate willingness to pay, and assess opportunities for educating customers and nursery employees.

Respondents indicated the threat posed by aquatic invasive species is of serious concern (91% consumers, 57% nursery professionals), but most were unable to correctly identify non-native, invasive species of concern in Minnesota. Few consumers (7%) purchase plants or animals over the Internet; 56% choose plants at local retail outlets. Most (86%) expressed a willingness to pay more for plants they were sure were free of hitchhikers.

Two thirds of the nurseries had received unintended plants or animals in shipments. Fewer than 15% of the retail outlets had a process in place to identify or eliminate 2 hitchhikers in their plant receipts. Only 25% had a process to prevent customers from receiving unintended plants in their purchases. Seventy five percent of retailers requested educational materials to train employees about risks and proper protocols. Nearly all retailers (95%) were willing to provide their customers with outreach education about aquatic invasive species.

After developing preliminary messages and graphics, we conducted focus groups with managers from large and small nurseries, pond designers and installers, state agency staff, Extension specialists, Master Gardeners, and representatives from the Minnesota Water Garden Society. From those meetings and subsequent conversations we refined the messages and finalized the design and layout of the materials.

The new educational materials include tip cards, plant sticks and tags for nurseries to include with potentially invasive plants, and posters. The posters are available in both an 8-1/2 by 11 inch format and a larger size (18 by 24 inches) for nurseries and garden centers to post.

In a pilot program this summer about 40 Minnesota nurseries, garden centers, and landscape businesses used the materials to inform employees and reach customers with the primary message, “Do Not Release” plants or animals from water features. We’re currently in the process of evaluating how the materials were used, customer response and interest, employee response, and willingness to pay for these or similar materials in the future.