Circle Lake Association hopes to clean up lake within fifteen years

Printer-friendly versionSend to friend

An abundance of plastic flamingos and owls in the Circle Lake area is no cause for alarm.
The Circle Lake Association — a grassroots nonprofit group leading the charge to clean the lake and remove it from the state’s impaired waters list — is pushing to double its fundraising efforts in 2011.
Key to those efforts are “flamingo” and “owl” level contributions. Pledge $1 a day, or $365 for the year, and receive a flamingo. Pledge $500 for the year and receive an owl.
“We want to make it clear last year’s contributions were not a one and done thing,” said Dale Petelinsek, who has lived on Circle Lake since 1994. “It’s really important to recognize that the lake did not get into this condition in a small amount of time, so a continued effort is important.”
The nonprofit association already has about 30 flamingo contributors and a handful of owl-level contributors. This year’s fundraising efforts are being timed with Labor Day weekend, and the group is aiming high.
Last year the group went door-to-door, collecting $17,000 for a bevy of initiatives. Those range from addressing the most obvious problem — the late-summer phosphorus-induced green tinted water — to carp control, vegetation control and watershed management.
This year, numbers of volunteers have swelled along with their ambitions. More than 20 members now contribute their time directing sub-committees that tackle specific issues.
The goal now includes expanding corporate sponsorship.
“Our target this year is $30,000,” said Petelinsek. “I don’t think we are going to have a problem with that. Especially if we grow our corporate base.”
The Circle Lake Association is built to perform over the long haul. Members anticipate needing between 10 and 15 years of consistent effort to clean the lake and remove it from the state’s impaired waters list.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency updates the list every two years, based on standards created by the federal Clean Water Act.
Bacteria, nutrients, turbidity and mercury are measured and a waterway is considered impaired if it fails to meet one or more of the standards. More than 1,700 waterways in the state are impaired, according to the MPCA’s 2010 list.
Circle Lake is considered one of the most impaired in the county, with higher levels of phosphorus — a main contributor to algae blooms — than French, Mazaska or Roberds lakes. It was placed on the MPCA’s list in 2006 because of high nutrient and mercury levels, according to the MPCA.
Last year, $10,000 was spent for an aquatic scientist to build an action plan. Since then, the group established a partnership with the University of Minnesota to control carp and purchased a mechanical weed-cutter that reaches seven feet into the water to trim overgrowth.
The hope is to see a whole lot of flamingos and owls.
“We are sticking them on docks and in yards,” Petelinsek said. “It’s a good way to show how many people support this.”

— Joseph Lindberg covers the city and county for the Daily News. He may be reached at 333-3135.