Dude…I don’t think there are cows in the middle of the lake. There aren’t any livestock operators on the lake itself any more. At least I don’t recall seeing any.
Freeborn County has very few any more. Cattle will wade in up to there bellies to get rid of flies or cool off. Dairy cows or nursing beef cows that stand in water are prone to develop mastitis and that practice is typically not followed any more. It is not good ecomonics.
There is a local movement to straighten up the watershed. It should be made known that a very large share of the pollution that came into the lake comes from the city in the form of industrial waste from past transgressions before the new waste treatment facility was built near Glenville and does not enter the lake anymore but is discharged into the Shellrock River for Iowans to enjoy plus pollution from everyday city living. Another big potential pollution problem is human waste from septic systems along the lake. The farming community always gets a bad wrap from the knee jerk reaction to water pollution.
The fact is that the Clean water Act did an outstanding job on reducing point pollution (mostly industrial from a specific point)) and really is responsible in part for the outstanding water quality we enjoy in the US today. Attacking non-point pollution sources is the next big agenda and will affect those people using the land wether it be farmers or average Joe applying weed killer and Scotts fertilzer to his lawn.
Back to AL Lake…I have never seen any figures to the amount of silt in the lake itself and to the amount of decayed organic matter from dead aquatic vegetation. I have never seen any reports as to the amounts of certain ag chemicals and fertilizers that are in the runoff and to as where they originate.
There is also is a movement to dredge the lake but where do you put the spoil of which can be toxic from mercury, PCP’s and other fun stuff?
I grew up in Albert Lea a block away from Albert Lea Lake and lived there for 24 years. I own the house I grew up in.
My other job is as District Conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service at the Minnewaukan Field Office in North Dakota. I have a little experience in watershed management and working with the ag community.
Which is evident by the cows which ocassionally stand in the middle. I’m really suprized that A.L.L. held those pigs… unless they typically lived in the channel.
