Dredging Lake Zumbro

In the A section of last nights Rochester Post Bulletin’s newspaper there is an article proposing dredging Lake Zumbro to the tune of 10 million dollars. A very intersting article to say the least. Describes the creation of the lake and progress over the years. It also goes on to say that Lake Zumbro has become an excellent fishery. Pollution has been closely monitored and controlled.
I do however have some questions if the lake were to be dredged. Where will they dredge exactly and where will the sediment be taken? What will the short and long term affects have on the fishing? The article also cautions that contamination testing of the sediment will have to be done.
I remember in the mid 1970’s the PCA noted Lake Zumbro as having one of the highest concentrations of PCB’s in the region. If memory serves me correct, PCB’s do not die and they do no go away. Rather over time, they are covered will silt and mud, thus their ill affects are nothing more then insulated and or covered from continued contamination.
So then the question here is will dredging stir up those hiddden PCB’s and start it’s ugly cycle again? Us older ones remember that era all to well and how it affected fishing.
Of course, I am in favor of anything that will protect and promote Lake Zumbro, however, there are some questions.

Pcbs are constantly stirred up in lakes and rivers that have current. highest concentrations are normally noted during early spring and during the rainy season. Unfortunately all dredging any lake with pcb contamination will do is release it into the water and pollute the water table and fish population, food chain etc. here some valuable info for anyone interested in the pros and cons of dredging lake and rivers with pcb contamination.check out this website

http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/manistique.html

or try google.com
and do a dredging in lakes with pcbs search
there is all kinds of info
hope this helps.
epa

Thanks Ron. Those are very good questions. My guess wants to say the old Sandy Point area above and below it. That ramp area sure needs it bad. But like you say it could cause problems too. We will have to keep our eyes and ears open as to what will happen. The fishery has really improved the past few years and alot of that I believe is because the water clarity has improved. Digging up the contaminates could possibly really hurt that clarity and the fishery. Lets hope that no harm comes to the fishery.
Thanks, Bill

Has anyone heard of just where they plan to do the dredging at? And when?
Thanks, Bill

So it is a for sure that they are doing this???? It is not something they are just speculating to do?? i didn’t read the paper i just heard about it. But it sounds like this is a for sure. I agree that it needs to be done at sandy point this would also releive some of the madness during the summer at the ponderosa landing. Nothing like an hour wait to put your boat in our take it out. keep the those with a media defficientcy (sp) people like me informed. ike

Quote:

---

So it is a for sure that they are doing this????

---

No, it is not for sure. I believe a private group is just exploring the possibility. Funding would be a major issue, not to mention the environmental impacts.

Good Fishing,
Mike

Brian!

Thought I would bring this back for discussion. The Post Bulletin once again had a front page article about spending $10-$20 million in order to dredge Lake Zumbro. They clearly pointed out that this would probably need to be taxpayer money. It was a very obvious attempt to drum up some support for this. Seems like a special interest group at work if ever I’ve seen one……….

Anyone care to comment further?

Good Fishing,
Mike

I’ll add my two cents worth Mike. I read tonights article and the question that comes to mind for me is, what will you do to prevent the lake to refill? If there is concern that the lake will not stop filling, shouldn’t the source of the silt and runoff be managed BEFORE you spend millions to dredge it? Look at Lake Shady now that the water levels are so low. What would happen if the dam in Oronoco was removed or it simply gave way like the dam in Stewartville? Tons of silt and “whatever” would end up in Lake Zumbro. By simply dredging now, you are just delaying the inevitable cost for those grandchildren that the article referred to. I do not propose to know the solution to the run off problem. I would hope that the DNR has a few thoughts on the process.

By the way, wouldn’t now be a great time to dig out at least some of Lake Shady?

Dredging was done in my home town, Lake Crystal, back in the 70’s. I really don’t know if the lake gained from the dredging. I do know that the silt that was removed from the bottom of the lake was used to add land to a peninsula cemetary and further upstream along the ditch that filled the lake, the silt filled an area that was later turned into both private commercial land and a city park. I might add that Crystal Lake has become a pretty nice, though unsung walleye fishery. I have no idea if the dredging 30 years ago had anything to do with the current fishery. To my knowledge nothing was done to prevent the lake from refilling with silt and runoff from this ditch that runs through agricultural land.

As you can see, I’ve probably ‘muddied’ the waters of this discussion. If I were to be expected to help pay for this dredging I would want to know that I’m truly fixing the problem and not just shifting it to my great grandchildren.

You make some good points Lew.

In my opinion, Lake Zumbro does not need to be dredged. The area above Fisherman’s Inn up toward Sandy point (which I consider to be the Zumbow River), has certainly silted in a lot in some areas but is still navigatable. The area below Fisherman’s Inn, (which I consider to really be Lake Zumbro), does not seem to have a problem.
I believe dredging would cause problems with stirring up buried toxins, and would negatively affect wildlife and people.

Dredging seems to be an ongoing battle where it has been done in the past. It never seems to be anything other than a short term fix.

Anyone agree or disagree?

If they could somehow temporarily block off the lake/river just above Fishermans Inn and then dredge the areas above that block I would be for it as long as the toxins etc that are stirred up [probably can’t remove ALL] don’t filter down stream and ruin the water clarity when the block is removed. Don’t know if that could be done or not. If dredging the upper lake/river would ruin the clarity of the river then I’m against it. Right now the lake has the best clarity ever and the fishery has improved big time. I don’t want to see it go back to being the Scumbro as it use to be called by many.
Thanks, Bill

It is a concern Mike, but I guess that I would need more science about the toxins before I would base my decision on that aspect. As I stated, my bigger concern would be the prevention of repeating the same mistakes by no be proactive about the run off first. Maybe money spent there would be more effective in the long run.

As for the water clarity Bill, I really think you need to thank the Zebra mussels for that. Quite possibly it is because of the silt that the mussels have not become a bigger problem on the lake, they are just too busy trying to clean the bottom.

I agree about the zebra mussels doing a great filtering job.

For me, I just don’t see much benefit to dredge the Lake. It is already deeper than 10 ft. almost everywhere except some of the bays, with many areas holding 20+ ft. I would need to see what benefit spending $20-$30 million dollars would produce, other than making some of the upper area in the river portion deeper for a few years before it silted in again.

The problem that causes the silting should be addressed – I agree there 100%! Maybe some of the shore erosion caused by speed boats could be controlled by having a maximum speed? There are lots of issues that could be addressed which would positively affect the lake, and most of them would not cost millions of dollars.

Good Fishing,

Mike

Without a doubt I think the zebra mussels are respondsible for the cleaner water. Same thing happened on pool 4 on the Mississippi River. ”So far” they have been a blessing in discise. Lets hope it stays that way too. Will be interesting this fall when they draw the water down to see if we can see tons of them on the shoreline rocks around the shoreline like I saw after people thought they were gone a couple years ago. This is too small of a body of water to have that many [millions it looked like] but I do appreciate them cleaning up the water as we have a much better fishery for it.
Thanks, Bill

My guess is the push for the dredging is from people who mostly live above Fishermans Inn as silt is a major problem there. And I don’t blame them. Question to answer would be is the silt from farmers fields run off? Waste from towns? Shorline wasting away? Or just plain shallower river up there? If the root of the problem isn’t fixed then it would silt right back in again.
Thanks, Bill

Maybe someone has their sites set on more condo’s up there?

There is that stretch between the Sandy Point landing and Fisherman’s Inn that would probably benefit from dredging. During one low water period I saw part of a iron dock rail sticking out of the water. If that area of the lake were to be drained I would be suprised if it didn’t look a lot like Lake Shady does now. Dredging this particular area would no doubt be a benefit for those affected home owners and would actually increase the area of useable lake. At this point I would not say that I am for or against dredging. I think there are way too many questions that would need to be answered before you just start dredging. I hope those looking at dredging can be patient enough to get those answers.

Mike, your comment about “speed” boats causing shore erosion must have been a troll of some sort. We’ve been around and around on this issue on this site and at public meetings up and down the Mississippi. If you want a speed limit it will have to be a no wake zone. Little/under powered boats cause just as much if not more wake than a boat on its “pad” at any speed.
How much shore of the Zumbro is solid chunk rock? Probably 80+%. Erosion isn’t the problem. Its the ZUmbro river. It filled in Shady and is slowly filling in Zumbro. Its a river that drains farm lands. Both lakes are resovoirs. They weren’t meant to be. Dredging is about the only option and there really is not any preventative maintence unless they went to the extremes of creating flumes and wing dams above the lake to divert and direct silt out of the main river and that will never happen.
I think they should dredge the area between Fisherman’s Inn and Shady point.
On a side note, the silting is affecting the lake beyond Fisherman’s too. Watch your depth finder as you leave Fisherman’s Inn and go down river/lake. It will slowly go from 10′ all the way to 20’ish as you get towards postier’s point. The shallower it gets above(between Fish and Shady) the faster the water will travel, carrying more silt and depositing in the areas beyond Fisherman’s Inn. So I believe dredging is preventative maintenence to prevent further silting to the lake below.
As mentioned by others, you can thank the mussels for the improved water clarity and much needed weed growth/better fishing.

I am only trying to point out that there are lots of possible things that could be done for lake improvement, most of which would not cost millions of $$$. Sorry if I hit a nerve with my comment about shoreline erosion, but I have been around long enough to know that erosion has been a big problem – especially in the areas you are suggesting should be dredged. Bass boats are not a problem. The pleasure boaters cause most of the big wakes.

Once again – I agree that the source of the silt should be addressed. If that does not happen, dredging would only be a temporary fix.

Good Fishing,

Mike

Quote:

---

Dredging is about the only option and there really is not any preventative maintence

---

The DNR would probably argue this point. Prevention is exactly the tactic they have taken to bring back the Minnesota River. It is a slow process, but they are working very hard to address run off by creating natural barriers between the agricultural and pasture lands all along the river. Groups such as Trout Unlimited have been taking preventative measures to preserve their trout streams for years. Raise the money if you can, then allow the DNR to give you the input that you need to take the right steps to preserve and maybe even repair the upper portion of Lake Zumbro.

Hey Tom, Excellent Post! You so nicely said what I’ve been attempting to say. Any improvements to Lake Zumbro should be about Lake Zumbro and not the property value on Lake Zumbro.

CT – you’ve lived on/near the lake for many years and have fished it for many years also. Hasn’t the lake really filled in since the flood control project in Rochester? If so, what’s the responsibility of the city of Rochester, anything????? I don’t know.

When I was a kid I remember boats going up-stream from Sandy Point a considerable distance, some of these boats were even larger boats, not just small fishing boats.

I agree the lake will fill in again – how long will it take? Greatly depends on shoreline vegitation, water ways / runs in farm field, etc, etc.

Excellent thoughts and post Tom. Thanks

Great post Tom. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and ideas. I hope the DNR is paying attention.