Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

500 lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-40

OEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

September 27, 2013 Wabasha County Board of Commissioners c/o County Administration Wabasha County Services Building 411 Hiawatha Drive East Wabasha, MN 55981-1529 Dear Commissioners: DNR ADVISORY REPORT ON THE FORMATION OF LAKE ZUMBRO IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT, OLMSTED AND WABASHA COUNTIES

Pursuant to Minnesota Rules part 6115.0970 subp. 5, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has reviewed the information submitted by Olmsted and Wabasha Counties regarding the creation of the Lake Zumbro Improvement District, and provides the following for submission to the public hearing on October 8, 2013: 1. A map showing the direct watershed area of Lake Zumbro is attached. 2. Information from DNR LakeFinder shows that Lake Zumbro is a reservoir lake created by damming the Zumbro River. It has a surface area of 715 acres with a littoral area (15 feet deep or less as per M.R. part 6280.0100, subp. 9) of263 acres, or approximately 37% of the lake's surface area. Generally, the littoral zone is the part of a lake where aquatic plants are able to grow, though the maximum depth at which plants can grow depends on water clarity and so varies from lake to lake and even from year to year within the same lake. The lake's maximum depth is 43 feet. 3. The lake has an immediate watershed of approximately 11,300 acres, giving a watershed: lake ratio of about 16: 1. The total portion of the Zumbro River watershed upstream of Lake Zumbro is approximately 540,000 acres and includes portions of Dodge, Steele, and Goodhue counties in addition to Olmsted and Wabasha. 4. Lake Zumbro is classified as a Recreational Development (RD) lake. RD lakes have structural setbacks of75 feet from the Ordinary High Water Level (OHWL) in areas with public sewers and 100 feet in areas without public sewers. 5. There are two public boat accesse$ on the lake. Olmsted County maintains one on the upper end of the lake, and a second boat access is in Wabasha County. The public access in Olmsted County is currently not usable because a flood in September 2010 deposited a large amount of sediment there. Olmsted County also maintains a shore fishing access in the middle portion of the lake. 6. This Lake Improvement District (LID) is being formed as a multi-county LID under the joint authority of Olmsted and Wabasha counties, and will be managed under the 0 lmsted-Wabasha Lake Zumbro Joint Powers Board. Formation of multi-county LIDs is addressed in Minnesota Statutes Section 103B.525. 7. The Lake Zumbro LID was first formed in 2010, but Wabasha County terminated its involvement in 2012. It is now being reformed. 8. The Lake Zumbro fish community is unusual in that it contains a variety of riverine as well as more typical lacustrine species. 9. Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are present in the lake, having been confilmed in 2000.

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Lake Zumbro LID September 27, 20\3 Page 2 of3

Analysis

This LID is being proposed to engage in dredging activities in the lake. This is the same problem for which the Lake Zumbro LID was first proposed in 2010, and the DNR has not been informed of any modifications to the project as proposed in 2010. Sedimentation into Lake Zumbro has been occurring since the lake's creation in 1919, and has been the subject of study and abatement projects for several years. The dredging activities for which this LID is being proposed are associated with or are an extension of the activities covered under the Lake Zumbro Restoration Grant (administered through the DNR Local Grants Program). Any dredging must be conducted in compliance with all applicable permits. Any work done in public waters requires a permit from DNR-Ecological and Water Resources, and in this case may require a Dam Safety Permit as well. An exotic species permit may also be required to regulate activities involving zebra mussels, to reduce the likelihood that activities or equipment will spread the mussels. The LID is advised to work closely with DNR Area Hydrologists for Olmsted and Wabasha counties concerning permit requirements, and is also advised to work closely with DNR-Fisheries for guidance on minimizing impacts to flora and fauna through dredging, runoff, water return, or other activities. A vegetation survey of the lake may be required as part of the permitting process to assess impacts of dredging activities on vegetation DNR staff raised specific concerns about the impacts during the course of a field trip to the lake on 09/28/09 and at a meeting on 10/27/09; these concerns are summarized in minutes and notes from these events. General concerns include a need for greater definition of project goals and objectives, which has not been addressed in the LID proposal. In addition, the project has the potential to seriously affect local wetlands, chiefly by dredging areas from a depth of less than two meters to a depth of greater than two meters. DNR advises the LID to consult the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) for guidance and to clarify applicable standards. Finally, staff suggested shore land restoration as an alternative or accompaniment to dredging, and DNR offered to host workshops on the topic. DNR again advises the LID to implement some of these strategies. The boundaries of the proposed LID include only properties that are riparian to Lake Zumbro 'that will be able to utilize the lake for recreational purposes'; this latter clause results in the exclusion of some parcels from either end of the lake. Minnesota Rules part 6115.0920 subpart 5 requires that the LID boundaries include all lands and waters within the direct drainage basin of the lake (this basin is shown on the attached map). However, this rule also allows the County Boards of Commissioners (the Boards) to create a district boundary less than the entire drainage basin with written Commissioner approval, and if the boundary selected includes a sufficient amount of the lake's watershed to develop and implement feasible solutions to the problems the LID intends to address. Restriction of the district's boundaries to these riparian properties is sufficient to address dredging activities; therefore, in accordance with these rules, the DNR hereby approves the proposed boundaries identified in the petition. However, the DNR recommends the Board limit the authority of the LID to matters that can be addressed by the riparian property owners. The proposed scope of the LID is limited to the current dredging project. This approach limits the usefulness of the LID to only the immediate project at hand; after yompletion of the project, the LID will continue to exist with no purpose until disbanded. The DNR advises the Board to expand the proposed scope of objectives to address some of the lake's other problems. These problems include a number of nonconforming sewage treatment systems and extensive shoreline alteration: actions appropriate both to

Lake Zumbro LID September 27,2013 Page 3 of3

these problems and to the riparian boundaries of the district would include installation of a communal sewage treatment system; removal of nonconforming systems, and shoreline restoration. Finally, the proposed objectives address only the immediate goal of removing existing sediment from the lake. Lake Zumbro receives drainage (and therefore sediments) from approximately 845 square miles of primarily cultivated or urban land, and sedimentation will remain a problem. Without reducing input, any go~lls achieved through the dredging project will be temporary. Reduction in sediment input can only be effectively pursued at the watershed level, and the DNR advises the LID work with various watershed organizations to reduce sediment input to the lake. Thank you for consideration of these comments. Please contact Kathy Metzker, DNR Land Use Hydrologist at 651-259-5694, if you have any questions. If approved, please provide the name and address of the primary contact of the Board of Directors for the LID and remind the LID of its obligation to provide DNR notice of annual meetings and copies of annual reports per MS 103B.571. Sincerely, DIVISION OF ECOLOGICAL AND WATER RESOURCES

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Attachment c:

Julie Ekman Manager, Conservation Assistance and Regulations (CAR) Section

Olmsted County Board of Commissioners Judy Ohly, Chairperson, Olmsted-Wabasha Lake Zumbro Joint Powers Board Michael Plante, Assistant Wabasha County Attorney Jennifer Shillcox, Land Use Programs Supervisor Corey Hanson, Area Hydrologist (Olmsted County) Bill Huber, Area Hydrologist (Wabasha County) Michael Duval, EWR NE West District Manager Daniel Petrik, Land Use Specialist Kathy Metzker, Hydrologist