By Rep. Paul Anderson
The House Environment, Natural Resources, and Ag. Finance Committee was scheduled to hold public hearings on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The main topic of discussion is expected to be the 500-page report issued earlier this summer by the Pollution Control Agency concerning nitrogen loading in the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. One of the assertions contained in the report is that production agriculture is responsible for a large percentage of the nitrogen in those two rivers. We all want to do our part to protect Minnesota’s valuable water resources, while using a common sense approach to any new regulations that may be forthcoming.
Also expected to be on the agenda are reports from several state agencies concerning the conversion of forest land in northern Minnesota to cropland for the production of potatoes. Testimony will focus on the potential loss of habitat and the extent of impact on both water quality and quantity.
I will give a full report on those meetings in next week’s column.
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I recently met with a group of Melrose residents concerned about the future of their lake. The 72-acre body is actually a reservoir caused by the dam in town that stretches across the Sauk River. The original dam dates back to the 1860s, when it was built to grind feed and to generate electricity. In the 1930s, the mill was replaced by a brewery that never actually produced any beer.
Since one of the functions of a dam is to slow the flow of water and hold it back to a certain level, the millpond or Melrose Lake has seen a gradual decrease in depth over the years because of the build-up of sediment. According to members of the Melrose Lake Improvement Association, the lake has also become impaired due to an increase in aquatic plant growth and algae.
Association members would like to see the lake cleaned up and possibly even dredged out to increase the depth of the water. Such things as rain gardens, storm water retention ponds, and filter strips along drainage ditches further upstream are practices that could reduce nutrient run-off into the river and lake. Dredging, however, is a costly management tool that would need the approval of the DNR, which could be difficult to obtain. According to a DNR official, “one of the goals of the department is to limit the excavation of materials from the beds of public water in order to preserve the natural character of public waters and their shorelands.”
Members of the lake association are committed to improving the quality of the lake in their city. With the assistance of organizations like the Sauk River Watershed, the county environmental services office, the DNR, and, hopefully, financial help from the state, the quality of Melrose Lake will eventually get better.
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This past Sunday I attended the 50th anniversary celebration of the Glenwood Retirement Village. The event was made even more special because it also included the ground-breaking for their new addition and renovation, construction of which is expected to begin yet this month.
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