Lake

dredging

on ice in

Sleepy Eye

Lake group

retains lawyer

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- To dredge or not to dredge Sleepy Eye Lake? That is the question.

The lake was heavily dredged in 1989 and 1990 with 330,000 cubic yards of sediment removed.

Several years later, lake fish were killed with chemicals. The lake was restocked with a variety of game fish. Anglers say the lake's fish population is very good now.

Meanwhile, Sleepy Eye Lake, which has an average depth of 9.3 feet, was listed as one of the state's most murky lakes last year, following water clarity tests.

The lake smelled bad by mid summer last year. Virtually nobody ever swims at either of the lake's two beaches.

Several lakeshore homeowners complained to the Sleepy Eye Lake Improvement Committee about a large number of weeds in the lake.

The association met with several Sleepy Eye City Council members who agreed that dredging would help improve the lake.

Other lake association members said they felt dredging would help the lake by making it deeper, like it previously did.

Working with Brown County, the lake association and city council sought to use to the dredge formerly used at Lake Hanska.

The lake association learned that it would take a dredging permit for 150,000 cubic yards to reach a break-even point for dredging costs.

Last November, Lake Improvement Committee Chairman Wayne Pelzel and Sleepy Eye City Manager Mark Kober met with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Area Hydrologist Rob Collette of Hutchinson and DNR Regional Environmental Assessment Ecologist Victoria Poague. They hoped the DNR would allow the dredging of more than 150,000 cubic yards of sediment, maybe two or three times that much.

"We felt we should dredge at least double 150,000 cubic yards," Pelzel said. "We proposed 450,000 cubic yards and hoped the DNR would meet us half way. They said they would respond to us within two weeks so we could line things up with land owners and move on with the permitting process. Brown County postponed selling its dredge on Lake Hanska with the hopes we could strike a deal with the DNR, and the dredge would be moved to Sleepy Eye Lake."

Pelzel said the Sleepy Eye groups have contacted the DNR numerous times and have not gotten the response they sought.

"For whatever reason, the DNR has opted to delay, delay, delay," Pelzel said. "Obviously, they aren't as interested in dredging as we are. We think their way of killing the project is by delaying it. We can't get them to move."

Pelzel said Brown County commissioners have gone out of their way to hold off the sale of the Lake Hanska dredge, but keeping it longer becomes a financial issue for the county.

Out of frustration, the Lake Committee, an arm of the City of Sleepy Eye, hired St. Cloud attorney Kurt Deter of the Rinke-Noonan law firm in St. Cloud.

Deter, who is known for dealing with water issues, wrote a letter and called a regional DNR office Jan. 22, 2002, asking for resolution of the dredging issue. A dredging permit application may be submitted if the DNR doesn't respond soon.

Pelzel feels push has turned to shove.

"The DNR has been extremely hard to work with, that's the bottom line," Pelzel said. "We feel very strongly about dredging. The DNR has not been able to present any reasons other than that they aren't sure about it. Our next move looks like contacting elected state officials."

Collette said the latest borings done on Sleepy Eye Lake "didn't show much sediment depth at all.."

"We tried to play the role of consultant. We're having a tough time meeting their criteria without having an unacceptable impact on the lake," Collette said. "Even so, nobody has submitted a dredging permit to us yet."

With the current mild winter and thin ice on the lake, there has often been unacceptable ice for a large boring truck to venture on the lake.

Collette said Sleepy Eye Lake fishing is better than most area lakes, which he considered another reason to limit dredging.

Sleepy Eye Sportsmen Club member Sam Domeier said fish are biting right now on the lake. Sunday, he caught a good number of perch, crappies and a 6-pound Northern Pike.

Sleepy Eye fisherman and spearing enthusiast Gary Neidecker vehemently opposes dredging.

"Leave it alone. The fish are doing fine out there. You wouldn't believe how many fish are in the holes. The water is very clear. We've got a good lake. If the water gets bad year-around later, do something, but not now," Neidecker said.

"There are lots of weeds in every lake. If they dredge and make big holes and it's a dry year, which is predicted, the lake could get even shallower. Where will the fish go then? Fish need weeds. It's ridiculous," Neidecker added.

A Lake Assessment Program was completed in October 1996 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Southeast Regional Office and Water Quality Division in cooperation with the DNR, Sleepy Eye Lake Association, and Brown County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Recommendations were:

* Sleepy Eye Lake would be sensitive to further changes in trophic status with increases in nutrient loading rates from any watershed or in-lake sources. Lake protection goals should be conveyed to all local groups with land use/zoning authorities.

* The Sleepy Eye Lake Committee should commit to maintaining its participation in the Citizen Lake-Monitoring Program to assess long-term and year-to-year algal productivity variations.

* The committee should provide educational materials to lakeshore owners on shoreline and shore land protection.

* Further watershed development should include strict enforcement of setbacks and vegetative buffer strips.

* The committee should work with city and urban residents to minimize nutrient runoff. Avoid or minimize fertilizer usage, regular street sweeping, and collecting materials like leaves, pet wastes, and vehicle fluid leaks than can wash into storm drains. Washing cars in the street should be re-evaluated.

* The committee should work closely with the DNR to maintain a healthy fish community and develop a working relationship with agricultural land owners in the watershed. Small pieces of agricultural land may be needed for lakeshore wastewater treatment.