10th/11th Crow Wing Lakes Association

Most of you have likely seen our post in Facebook about the DNR confirmed discovery of zebra mussels in Eleventh Crow Wing Lake.  Our area DNR AIS specialist confirmed these sightings herself on Thursday September 24th.  Most of the information we know was posted on Facebook on the day we learned of this terrible news (Monday Sept 28th).

We believe holding a Zoom meeting is the best way to get the information out to members of 10th and 11th Crow Wing Lake Associations.  Plan is to go through a short slide deck presentation with background, comparison with other area lakes, containment and any treatment options,  It will also give you as members a chance ask questions and to talk with each other in a group discussion.

Lets meet at 12:30 pm on Sunday October 4th using the link below.  The presentation materials will be less than an hour.  Its difficult to predict how long the group discussion may be, but lets try to remain patient and calm during the discussion.  Hope to talk to you soon.

——————————————————————————

Please click the following blue hyperlink when you are ready to join the meeting.  Likely no password will be needed, but if it does prompt you please use:

crow-again

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86092440545?pwd=Lpf30czO48aQaMgjP9fJbYQqYP9xxq.1

Please check out the updated side tab for Shoreland Restoration (or for any new tree needs on your property).  There is an order form for Hubbard County’s “Restore the Shore” tree program.   Tree orders are due in advance and picked up in Park Rapids in very early May ’26

Thanks to all who attended our Fall Lake Association meeting on Sat Nov 1st.  We met precisely for one hour and had some really good discussion.  John P recorded the meeting, so you can watch it back at your leisure.  You will need this password to access the recording: U2au2yw!

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/n-Jzrua8LSenl4Z7GXk_-dKyh-uOBrSxiaHzBjW_BzxRXQNFO_9-fGfWzVj56ELh.6w3YOguxx5cwvzTQ

In order we discussed beaver concerns with outlet of 11th piling up, we talked about loon nest platform success in 2025 and the changes we will implement for 2026, and the Hubbard Cty paving project (tentatively 2027) on Cty 23 on north side of smaller East basin.  Lisa gave a snapshot of our account balances, so we talked about that.  And agreed we would continue funding Boat Ramp Inspection hours as we have in the past.  And finally talked about speed limits/safety on a few relevant roads.

I’m posting the links to a presentation given by Dr Bruce Carlson.  He’s a former biologist, University of Michigan school of Medicine Professor, and has owned property on 10 Mile Lake in Hackensack where he spends his summers.  He’s studied the lake extensively and freely shares the information with others.  Directly from COLA: “He has written two books on lakes, “Beneath the Surface – A Natural History of a Fisherman’s Lake;” and “A North Country Lake Throughout the Seasons.” He also has a new book, “Understanding Midwestern Aquatic Invasives,” just released in 2024.”

What I find super fascinating in this presentation is the extensive use of underwater cameras.  There’s so much going on underneath the surface that most don’t know about.  Find yourself a free hour and do give them a watch, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.  Links provided by COLA where he presented on July 25th:

Part A:  https://youtu.be/McOcmHGVNKg
Part B:  https://youtu.be/jDTFYbHxo0c
Q&A:  https://youtu.be/t1aPI5O1RsQ
PDF: 2024a__hubbard__cola.pdf

Our fall 2023 meeting is in the books. We met primarily over Zoom on Sat Oct 28th for a little less than 90 minutes, though two of my neighbors joined me at our lake home (thanks for the bars, they were delicious!).

Primary discussion was about changes in local AIS, notably how Starry Stonewort was found this summer in one of the lakes in SW Hubbard County.  We went through the AIS response that their lake association, the DNR, and some private treatment companies enacted once detected.  Their overall response was fairly fast and can help serve as a blueprint if we ever have a similar finding in our lakes (hope we will not!).  We also discussed some local road development proposals.  And spent some time talking about the outlet of 11th Crow Wing (that feeds 10th) being plugged up with branches, sticks, and leaves.  Later that afternoon, this was cleared and quite a bit more water started flowing downstream to 10th.  And we talked about a few of our normal topics as well.

John Paasonen took a Zoom recording of the meeting and sent me the link (THANKS John!).  We started the meeting with introductions at the 11 minute mark.  And were done with introductions at the 14 minute mark.   If you click the link below, you will then just have to enter the following password, 9j$GAZi%

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/78LBagLNbv4F3GXo_xiagopFUbj6GYbI_nU_SRwRoorB5Y9foeIBvvAsP3LRpRXt.K2awwwtS6lEfyOuo

The official “Ice Out” date for 11th CW was May 3rd.  Graphs have been updated and can be found here: Ice Out and Ice In.  Average Ice Out moved back a day to April 21st due to late spring arrival for the second year in a row.  Because our 2022 Ice in was so close to our historical average of December 2nd, there has been no change.

If anyone lives on 10th CW, and is present in late Nov/early Dec, as well as April/May, we’d love to get ice reports there to track as well.  Just let Scott know via email.  Also putting out a plug if anyone has older historical data for 11th CW, we’d add that in also.

This long journey has come to a close in the fall of 2021.  Many, many people put in a lot of effort to make sure this project was a success for the lake owners and local Akeley community members.  The lake crossing of course serves as a vital Highway link.  It also provides lake crossing for hikers, bikers, and ATV riders.  State of MN kicked in all of the funds for this, with MnDOT engineers providing design and coordinating all of the construction.  Landwehr Construction completed the actual work.   Thank you all so much!

Some details of the new concrete box culvert…Inside dimensions are 14′ wide by 14′ tall.  Soon after construction concluded we had a measurement of 8′ of air gap and 6′ from waterline to the bottom of the culvert (as we know the water level is always fluctuating some).  It was designed with a 7’6″ air gap in mind.  Some settling may occur, but a min 4′ of aggregate bedding was specified.

For the sake of posterity, check out the Page link to the right for history, communications, slides, files, pics, etc.   The links below will take you to pictures of the finished culvert as well as the construction phase.

• Finished Culvert Pictures
• Culvert Construction Pics from Aug-Sept 2021

Ken Emmeck is our water quality volunteer.  A few times a year he grabs samples and then takes the time to promptly run them over in a cooler to an area collection point.  It does require a certain amount of commitment, so thanks!

Below is a link to RMB Environmental Laboratories database, who processes and analyzes our samples.  If you follow the link below you will be directed to their data base page.  Select Hubbard County and Eleventh Crow Wing Lake to see the latest data and trending analysis.

https://www.rmbel.info/data/

Chlorophyll is improving with 80% confidence as is Secchi Disk with 90% confidence.  Total phosphorus is in a better than expected range when compared to similar area lakes.  So keep it up folks.  Limiting or being careful with fertilizers, maintaining and cleaning out septic systems on schedule, and keeping a buffer strip near the lakeshore are all things that we can do to help the water quality of our great gem of a lake.

At the spring meeting we also discussed the “restore the shore” program that Hubbard County COLA has.  If you do some homework and can plan on placing tree orders early, you can score quite a few small trees for a very nominal cost.  There usually is an order deadline and a pickup deadline.  See link below for more information.  These trees could be planted near the shore, or anywhere on your property for that matter.

http://hubbardcolamn.org/score–restore-your-shore.html