Our lakes and lakeshores: A lot of work remains to be done

Published 12:00 am Monday, August 16, 2004

By Ken Nelson, Watershed board

In June of 1997, 12 learned individuals from this area signed an Albert Lea Lake report that I now as a watershed manager refer to quite often. Here are a few excerpts:

&uot;In just 80 years, Albert Lea Lake and its environs had gone from being described as ‘lovely lakes Š filled with myriads of pickerel and swarming with wild ducks and geese Š a broad expanse of prairie inhabited by thousands of plump prairie chickens’ to ‘a dumping ground for sewage and garbage of all kinds.’ &uot;

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(quotes from an 1972 Albert Lea Tribune story and 1949 Community Magazine)

Quoting further, &uot;In 1985, the waste treatment facility was moved downstream of Albert Lea Lake and further upgraded. By 1995, water quality had improved significantly, but measures of water quality in the lake still lag when compared with similar lakes in this part of the state.&uot;

And now the most demanding quote, &uot;A lot of work remains to be done.&uot;

We must all recognize the uniqueness of our Shell Rock River Watershed. We are at the top of the hill, where no water but our own flows through it. The damages inflicted to the lakes and streams have been our doings or our immediate ancestors. For the repairs, we must work together.

Having used the tools of memory, observations, and pictorial documentation, I’m compelled to offer some thoughts with regard to my No. 1 concern for the future of our lakeshores.

Any time a water control structure impounds a body of water it places varying degrees of damage upon the newly defined shoreline.

The first winter ice and its approximate 10 percent expansion factor will thrust itself in all directions into a new and vulnerable shore. The ice will damage that shore to the point where normal high spring water levels will lash at the exposed soil and wash it into the low points of the water body.

In 1856 a dam was constructed to impound Fountain Lake and the years have crashed her shores to an extent made obvious by the miles of rock wrapping needed to save those shores.

In 1864 the Juglan Dam impounded Albert Lea Lake, and by raising the water level a few feet, the same annual erosion cycle began on its 20-plus miles of shoreline. Today, much of that shoreline is in increasing danger of washing into the lake because of expanding ice, high bounces in water levels, and wave action digging into sheer banks up to 12 feet high.

In the 54 years that my family has been privileged to live on the northeast arm of Albert Lea Lake, we have witnessed the destruction of 15 feet average along almost 1 mile of unprotected shoreline. As this shoreline disappeared into the lake, at least 25 stately oak trees collapsed into the water and gradually decayed into oblivion.

To stop the shoreline erosion of the many affected miles will be a tremendous undertaking, but it must be done.

Parallel with shoreline restoration, efforts must be made to retain runoff water where it originates, not in the lakes.

In 1945, the Shell Rock River Dam at Juglan’s was doubled in width to accommodate the increased flow of drainage waters. Since that time, we have increased drainage into the system to the extent that serious consideration should be given to at least doubling the width again.

A bridge restricts the river as it enters Iowa, but the crest of a rain event in our area doesn’t arrive there until about four days later. With a wider control structure, the tail waters (the river itself) would force that crest much sooner, and may minimize the flooding of East Main Street.

Yes, &uot;a lot of work remains to be done,&uot; but this time a dedicated Watershed District is aiming to complete restoration of the watershed.

To learn how to preserve your shoreline, beautify your backyard, and help area lakes, sign up for the Lakescaping Workshop Aug. 23-24. You may register for one of two courses:

Full-day workshop from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24

Two evening sessions, from 6:45-9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 23-24

Both courses are at the Elks Club. Tuition is $12 per individual or $20 per couple, and includes lunch and/or snacks plus &uot;Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water,&uot; a full-color, 180-page book.

Carolyn Dindorf, author of the &uot;Lakescaping&uot; book, will lead the workshops.

For details, call the Audubon Science Center at 373-3027. This is a joint project of the District, Audubon, Freeborn County Environmental Services, and city of Albert Lea.

(Ken Nelson is a member of the Shell Rock River Watershed District Board of Managers.)