Addressing feedlot runoff, farming and urban sources of pollutants, and failing septic systems are helping heal Lake Shaokatan in western Minnesota.

Plagued by toxic blue-green algal blooms for several years (photo at right), the lake is now recording all-time lows of phosphorus, the nutrient that causes algae, and showing other signs of improvement, according to Steve Heiskary, research scientist with the MPCA.

Typical of many shallow lakes in agricultural watersheds, Lake Shaokatan’s condition shows that long-term efforts can make a difference. This 995-acre lake near the town of Ivanhoe in Lincoln County has a maximum depth of 10 feet.

Dating back to 1991, the Yellow Medicine Watershed District, state and federal agencies, local groups, and local units of government have worked to study the lake and implement restoration efforts. Signs of a healthier lake include:

• Lower levels of phosphorus and chlorophyll-a, the pigment that makes algae green;
• Less frequent and less severe algal blooms;
• Greater water clarity; and
• Rooted plants growing in the lake.

In 2008, the MPCA included Lake Shaokatan in another long-term monitoring program, Sustaining Lakes In a Changing Environment (SLICE). SLICE lakes are monitored more often to assess physical, chemical, and biological characteristics, and to gauge the current health of habitats and fish in Minnesota lakes.

“It is too early to tell if the 2014 phosphorus and chlorophyll-a concentrations will become the new norm for Shaokatan. However, continued monitoring in 2015 through SLICE will provide an opportunity to track changes in the condition of this lake,” Heiskary said.

Read the full story about Lake Shaokatan on the MPCA website.

A new MPCA study confirms that lakes and streams across Minnesota are contaminated by by pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This is the latest study in a series investigating the presence of these chemicals in Minnesota’s surface water.

Even in remote areas of the state, chemicals such as antibiotics, nicotine breakdown products, antidepressants, and medications to regulate diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure, were detected. The insect repellent DEET was detected in 91% of the lakes studied. These results are consistent with previous studies of Minnesota lakes and rivers.

“We have known for some time that these compounds frequently turn up downstream from wastewater treatment plants,” said the study’s lead author, Mark Ferrey. “And recent research has shown that a surprising number are found even in remote lakes or upstream waters. But we have a lot to learn about how they end up there.”

Ferrey noted that septic systems and stormwater runoff are among the potential sources of contamination to surface water not impacted by wastewater treatment plants. While it is not yet clear how these compounds are entering more remote lakes and streams, Ferrey noted that it is possible that these contaminants are in some cases being distributed by rainfall or atmospheric transport of dust to which these chemicals are attached.

The study tested 11 lakes and 4 streams that were previously sampled in 2008 for the presence of 125 different compounds — mostly pharmaceutical products, but also some ingredients that are used in personal care products, detergents, and other commercially available products. The most recent report also tested for many new chemicals. This study was the first in Minnesota to look for the x-ray contrast drug iopamidol, which was found in 73% of the lakes studied. Interestingly, the highest concentration of iopamidol was found in Lake Kabetogama, located in the Voyageurs National Park.

Research into how these compounds might affect human health through long-term, low-level exposure is still in its early stages. Ferrey noted, however, that it is especially difficult to predict environmental and health effects of exposure to multiple pharmaceuticals in combinations.

Because some pharmaceutical contamination of surface water is due to wastewater, the MPCA says that one easy step people can take at home is to avoid flushing unwanted medicines down the toilet. Better alternatives include taking the drugs to a medication collection site or mixing them with vinegar or cat litter to discourage ingestion and throwing them in the trash in a sealed container. Special recommendations apply to liquid chemotherapy drugs.

MPCA monitoring crews are beginning the seventh of a 10-year effort to assess the condition of rivers, streams, and lakes in Minnesota. This work is funded by the Clean Water Fund from the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2008.

The majority of this summer's monitoring activities will take place in on nine of Minnesota’s 81 major watersheds:

• A team based in Brainerd will work in the Marsh River, Wild Rice River, Clearwater River, Upper and Lower Red Lakes, and Rainy River-Headwaters watersheds.
• A St. Paul-based team will work in the Lower Minnesota River, Des Moines River-Headwaters, Lower Des Moines River, and East Fork Des Moines River watersheds.
• The teams will combine efforts to conduct a survey of the Minnesota River mainstem, from its source in western Minnesota to its confluence with the Mississippi River in St. Paul.

Lake monitoring crews will sample the larger lakes in the same watersheds. The MPCA is committed to monitoring all lakes greater than 500 acres in size, and as many lakes over 100 acres as possible. The lake monitoring teams will study water clarity, nutrient concentrations and other water chemistry parameters to assess lakes for their ability to support recreational uses.

In addition to the watershed work, the biological monitoring crews will collect water samples later in the season from 150 randomly selected rivers and streams across Minnesota to measure concentrations of new and emerging chemicals of concern. Little is known about the extent to which these chemicals, found in a wide variety of products, persist in our environment.

Other MPCA monitoring teams, working with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and local water resource managers, will continue to track flow, pollutant loads, and water quality trends on all the state’s largest rivers, and on major tributary rivers at the outlets of most major watersheds in Minnesota.

Wetland monitoring crews will sample five to 10 wetlands in the headwaters of tributaries to Lake Superior and 20 marsh wetlands across southwest and northwest Minnesota.

The MPCA relies on a large contingent of volunteers and local partners to collect water quality data on lakes and streams. Several groups have received funds through Surface Water Assessment Grants to collect water quality data in 2014 in these watersheds.

The legacy of farmer Jim Frederick lives on this growing season. He was known as a leader who listened, a business man who knew his economics, and conservationist who practiced what he preached.

Jim was serving as chairperson of the Farmer Led Council in the Whitewater River watershed when he died in December 2014. The council was the first of its kind in Minnesota, an effort that took fortitude to get off the ground and running. With a knack for befriending people and organizing projects, Jim was the ideal person to lead the effort.

He was born in 1945 in Rochester, graduated from St. Charles High School, and attended the University of Minnesota Business School. He spent most of his career working at HCC Inc. in Mendota, Ill.

In 1998, Jim and his wife Rae moved back to St. Charles to his family farm where they grew corn, soybeans, alfalfa and beef cattle with conservation practices like crop rotation, grass waterways and fertilizer management. In fact, Jim was the first farmer in Olmsted County to receive certification in a volunteer water quality program with the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture.

When the Farmer Led Council first was being organized, Jim noted that County Road 10 in Olmsted County was having some erosion issues due to highway construction work. He and Jerry Hildebrandt, conservationist at the time for the Whitewater Watershed Project, contacted the Olmsted County Highway Department and met with the county engineer. The three drove the entire reconstructed road, identifying areas that the county should fix.

"Jim’s rationale was that conservation responsibility does not rest only with the farmers. We all need to play a role," Jerry said. "Jim was not only able to explain to others what can be done in conservation farming, but he followed it himself. He did recognize that there are great challenges to farming this area, but much can be done to farm in a manner that improves the watershed."

Read the full tribute to Jim on the MPCA website.