Goose Lake Water Quality Improvement Project
The Goose Lake Water Quality Improvement Project will de-list the lake from the MPCA's impaired waters list due to excessive nutrients. Goose Lake is located at the entrance to Washington County's Lake Elmo Park Reserve, which has over 500,000 visitors per year. The 38-acre landlocked lake has a 6-acre wetland lobe (Goose Lake North) north of CSAH 10 and a main lobe of 32 acres (Goose Lake South) south of CSAH 10. A public viewing access pier owned the City of Lake Elmo is on Goose Lake South and a fishing dock managed by a homeowners' association of a residential development is on Goose Lake North. The Valley Branch Watershed District (VBWD) anticipates that recreational use of Goose Lake will greatly increase once its water quality is improved.
VBWD's studies show treating the runoff into the landlocked lake will not improve the lake's water quality enough because of the high internal load from bed sediments. During the growing season, 70-80% of the phosphorus load is from internal sources. Therefore, the Goose Lake Water Quality Improvement Project includes an in-lake alum treatment to address this huge load from sediment.
Annie Felix-Gerth
(b) $8,500,000 the first year and $8,500,000 the second year are for grants to local government units to protect and restore surface water and drinking water; to keep water on the land; to protect, enhance, and restore water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams; and to protect groundwater and drinking water, including feedlot water quality and subsurface sewage treatment system projects and stream bank, stream channel, shoreline restoration, and ravine stabilization projects. The projects must use practices demonstrated to be effective, be of long-lasting public benefit, include a match, and be consistent with total maximum daily load (TMDL) implementation plans, watershed restoration and protection strategies (WRAPS), or local water management plans or their equivalents. Up to 20 percent of this appropriation is available for land-treatment projects and practices that benefit drinking water.
The Goose Lake Water Quality Improvement Project will improve the total phosphorus in-lake summer averages concentrations of 52-125 ug/L since 2013 to less than the 60 ug/L standard for shallow lakes in the Central Hardwood Forest ecoregion.
LOCAL LEVERAGED FUNDS