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The hazard buoy from Needle Point went missing this week and had to be replaced by the Sheriff's Department. Needle Point is a peninsula that juts out into South Center lake on the westernmost shore. As we have learned in the past, buoys remain expensive to replace, as well as time-consuming for law enforcement. If you have any information on the missing buoy, please contact the Sheriff's Department. The non-emergency phone number is 651-257-4100.

Chemical treatment of Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) is completed for both North and South Center lakes for 2023. The amount of EWM was more comprehensive than anticipated, with stands varying from sparse to extremely dense. The CLA Board considered costs, locations of infestations, density of plants, recreational traffic corridors and more, finally voting to complete chemical treatment on 18 acres of North Center and 18 acres on South Center. For information on the Curly Leaf Pondweed treatments earlier this summer, please see the weed treatment blog post from May 22. Full technical reports and breakdown of costs for all treatments are available upon request.

The latest edition of The Scuttlebutt from the Center Lakes Association is now available!

This signature event is specifically designed for local community leaders, including city council members, county commissioners, watershed district and SWCD supervisors, lake and river association board members, water stewards, and members of planning commissions and citizen advisory committees. You are welcome to attend one or both workshops! Register at http://www.mnwcd.org/shop - $30 per person, includes dinner and cash bar June 27th in Taylor’s Falls (5-9pm) Speakers and sessions include: Economic Value of Clean Lakes and Rivers – Presenter: Mae Davenport, Professor at University of Minnesota and Director of the Center for Changing Landscapes Vanishing Shorelines & Importance of Shoreland Rules - Presenters: Matt Baumann, Minnesota DNR and Mike Wenholz, Wisconsin DNR North & South Center Lakes Success Story: Panel discussion with Q & A. Learn how local partners in Chisago County collaborated to improve water quality and “de-list” North & South Center Lakes. Featuring Casey Thiel, Chisago SWCD; Ben Elfelt, Chisago LID; and Nancy Moe-Mergens, Center Lakes Association. July 25th in Stillwater (5-9pm) Speakers and sessions include: Economic Value of Clean Lakes and Rivers - Presenter: John Linc Stine, retired Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Executive Director of Freshwater Society Vanishing Shorelines & Importance of Shoreland Rules - Presenters: Matt Baumann, Minnesota DNR and Tom Langer, Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix Watershed District Lily Lake Success Story: Panel discussion with Q & A. Learn how local partners in Stillwater collaborated to improve water quality and “de-list” Lily Lake. Featuring Matt Downing, Middle St. Croix WMO; Jay Michels, EOR, Inc.; and Mike Lyner, Friends of Lily Lake.

If your summer fun involves motorboats or personal watercraft, consider the effect your wake has on the shoreline, on wildlife, and on other people enjoying the same waters. The environmental effects of wakes can include shoreline erosion, impaired water quality from sediments, and loss of shore-line vegetation. Big wakes can also damage the nests of shore-nesting birds including loons and can be dangerous to smaller watercraft like canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards. Here are some ways to keep your wake in check: Read the signs. Observe speed limits and no-wake zones. Stay away from shore. Personal watercraft are required by law to stay at least 150 feet away from shore. The DNR recommends that motorboats stay at least 200 feet from shore or other structures to minimize wake effects. Spread it around. If you’re in a fast-moving wake boat, water skiing boat, or personal watercraft, minimize repetitive passes in one area by moving on to another. Low and slow. Travel more slowly in shallow waters. Ease up on the throttle near anglers, swimmers, or paddlers in small craft. Learn more at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/boatwater/own-your-wake.html This article originally appeared in the May-June 2023 issue of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine and is reprinted with permission.

Lake Management, Inc. will be treating the marked areas for Curly leaf Pondweed on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. If you see small markers resembling balloons, they are markers, put there by the treatment applicators. Please do not run over them with your boat or try to remove them! North Center South Center Bog removal in the North Lindstrom/North Center channel Lakes Aquatic Weed Removal will start tomorrow, Tuesday May 23rd, to begin working on clearing parts of the channel between North Lindstrom and North Center. It is unclear how long it will take, but it is a smaller project than in years past. Please avoid the channel over the next few days! This will allow the work to get done with minimal interruptions.

Just in time for summer, new docks are arriving in Center City! Thanks to the quick thinking of a North Center resident, this system of EZ floating docks was obtained at a great price and at the perfect time. The CLA is cooperating with the resident to begin a fundraiser to pay for the docks. The docks will be donated to the city for public use, replacing the old, short docks currently placed downtown. The cost of the dock system was $9,000. Or goal is to raise a total of $10,000 or more in order to pay for installation hardware, signage or repairs needed. If our goal is exceeded, we have several upgrades we'd like to consider, including lighting, additional dock pieces, kayak ramps, etc. Several thousand dollars have already been donated from the following sponsors: - Chisago County Lake Improvement District - Chisago Lakes Visitors Bureau - Center City Let's improve access to our local restaurants and businesses by helping us install the new dock system! We hope to get the new docks installed in the next week. If you are interested in helping out, please donate to contribute to the docks

Minnesota Lakes and Rivers (MLR) would like CLA to be aware of a unique opportunity to learn more about the impact wakesurfing can have on our lakes. Boating season is upon us. Minnesotans, as they have for generations, will enjoy sun and water and fun. But there the similarity ends. Many of the new boats on the water bear no resemblance to your grandfathers fishing boat. The boats now are larger and far more powerful. Where once boats were powered with 25 HP or maybe 50 HP motors and 40 knots was considered fast, there are boats on the market now that go over 70 mph or have engines generating 400 hp or more. And there are more of them. It is time to try to see what the impacts of our boats, wakes, prop thrust and boating habits are on lake ecology and wildlife. Minnesota Lakes and Rivers has been working the last few years to support funding for world class researches to begin exploring these issues. We wanted to provide an opportunity for you to learn more. May 31, 2023. 6:30pm-8:00pm with Jeff Marr MS PE, Associate Director of Engineering and Facilities, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota and Andy Riesgraf MS, Research Scientist This presentation by Jeff Marr will summarize completed comparative research on the size, energy, and power of boat-generated wake waves produced by a number of recreational boats under various modes of operation and data-informed guidance on recommend operational distances for enhanced wake watercraft. The presentation will also share an update of ongoing research focusing on characterizing the propeller wash created by recreational boats and potential implications of propeller wash on lake health. Finally, Jeff Marr will present our research plans for an upcoming research study, pending funding by the State of Minnesota, that will explore environmental impacts of boat-generated wave, propeller wash and wind driven waves. The presentation will allow time for questions and discussion. We hope to see you there and enjoy the spring. Jeff Forester, MLR

Center Lakes Lake Association, in partnership with the Lower St Croix Watershed Partnership, is hosting a FREE “Navigate to a Cleaner Lake” open house event. Door prizes will be available! Navigate to a Cleaner Lake is designed to offer local lakeshore owners a casual opportunity to learn about local lake health, how to improve water quality, shoreline landscaping practices, aquatic invasive species and the local lake community. Several state and local organizations have already committed to joining us, including Minnesota Lakes & Rivers Advocates, Chisago County, Chisago County Soil and Water Conservation District, Landscape Alternatives, Native Plant Restorations, and several lakeshore owners who have made a difference on their own lakeshores. Free registration required at: https://www.centerlakes.org/nav-to-a-cleaner-lake Saturday, May 20, 2023 2:00 PM 4:00 PM Uncommon Loon Brewery 10825 Lake Boulevard Chisago City, MN, 55013

Volunteer Sign-Ups now open for the Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol Volunteer Science Project For more information, contact Maria Young, Invasive Species Technician myoung@wildriversconservancy.org 715.483.3300 ex. 21

ACT NOW to manage Aquatic Invasive Species on your lakefront next spring! Water levels have gone down in the last year or two, due to recent drought conditions. This has led to the resurgence of those nasty weeds and weed mats that none of us like on our shorelines and in the shallower parts of the lakes. Next spring will likely produce more of the same, unless we are blessed with LOTS of snow this winter to slow their growth and LOTS of rain in the spring to bring up the water levels! You can likely expect to see mats of Curly Leaf Pondweed in the early spring and an overgrowth of Eurasian Watermilfoil in midsummer. The CLA monitored and mapped those weeds last summer and has requested a grant from the MN DNR to help pay for those areas that are the most bothersome, but only those areas that are more than 150 feet from shore. There is no guarantee that we will be awarded the grant, but plan to treat as much of the lake as we are permitted for and can afford when the time is right. Stay tuned for more information in the spring. YOU can help! If your shoreline is blessed with native plants (cattails, lily pads, etc) that help to filter the water and provide habitat for fish and other wildlife, you can clear a path with a weed razor or herbicide so you can access the rest of the lake for recreation. If your shoreline has become infested with scum and invasive weeds that affect your ability to use your beach or shallow areas, there are several things that you can do to mitigate those invasive species that affect water quality near the shoreline. One of the most effective way you can help is to have a portion of your own shoreline treated every year for invasive species. CLA cannot treat within 150 feet of shoreline, so that is left up to the lakeshore owners. If all property owners would treat their shoreline appropriately, we could consistently decrease the number of weeds that appear every year. What most people don’t know is that you need to start the process for chemically treating your shoreline in JANUARY! That’s when the permit applications are due! There are several commercial companies that can do the work for you, or you can obtain your own permit, purchase your own chemicals and do it yourself. We, personally, have used Lakes Management Inc for a few years, and Lake Restoration prior to that. They will obtain the correct permits, come out twice a year to spray your shoreline with the appropriate herbicide that will slow down and hopefully stop the weeds from growing, as well as treating your shoreline for simmers itch. There are also other companies that can help with this, and a list of commercial applicator companies is included with this article for your convenience. Don’t delay! Start now to make the summer better on our lakes! All property owners can also improve their shorelines to prevent erosion, filter nutrients, provide habitat, and increase property values by improving water quality. CLA has many resources that can help you with the planning and implementation of these improvements. Have questions? Reach out to us at info@centerlakes.org. Do you want to reach out to a commercial applicator? Follow this link for a list of vendors: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/fisheries/apm/commercial_aquatic_pesticide_applicators.pdf

The CLA is entering into a new partnership! The goal? More trees, please! The Chisago County Soil and Water Conservation District is holding its annual plant sale, starting now until April 11th , or when supplies are exhausted. Don't delay in ordering your trees and shrubs online now! Participants can pay for trees and shrubs and pick them up in April. Current CLA members will be eligible for a partial reimbursement for plants purchased and planted from the sale. Purchased plants will be available for pick up in April (see www.chisagoswcd.org for pick up details). CLA members can retain a copy of their paper/electronic receipt. Receipts can be shown at the annual spring meeting in order to receive a $5 reimbursement. Trees and shrubs play a key role in lake health. The root systems prevent shoreline erosion, help filter harmful substances from groundwater, and provide habitat for insects and small animals, a vital part of the food chain. Visit www.chisagoswcd.org to order now or call 651-674-2333. ***Limit one reimbursement per household***