Article from the Winona Daily News 6/15/2016
A few years ago, the only people who were interested in the plants growing along the shoreline of Lake Winona were the park maintenance staff in charge of mowing.
Under direction of city staff, who took direction from a previous City Council, who took direction from residents, they mowed to keep the plants short and the water visible from the bike path. Residents then thought healthy, attractive lakes were lakes with grass mowed right to the edge. This practice helped lead to erosion of the shoreline that required rock riprap to hold it in place. No one knew any better.
The Healthy Lake Winona group would like to see a change in this city park maintenance practice. To improve the lake, we need a naturalized shoreline, which offers the following benefits:
The MPCA has listed Lake Winona as “impaired water,” because of the high amounts of phosphorus in it. High phosphorus levels promote weed growth. A naturalized shoreline will cut the amount of new phosphorus entering the lake.
To push this effort along, a lot of people have taken an interest in the plants growing along the shore of Lake Winona this summer and last. Who are they and what have they been doing?
But they have also found other plants not so welcome: purple loosestrife, leafy spurge, wild parsnip, garlic mustard and buckthorn. These are species that have moved in within the last couple of decades. They are tough competitors for the natives, since they tend to take over.
The first step in naturalizing the shoreline is to leave a few feet of natural growth at the edge of the lake for the duration of this 2016 growing season. This will let all the plants complete their growth cycles so Healthy Lake Winona and city staff can clearly identify what is growing and make a plan for the shoreline.
In the meantime, if you see “weeds” growing at the edge of the big lake, be happy! Lake Winona is changing in a good way — it’s getting cleaner!
Pamela Eyden is a Winona City Council member and a representative of Healthy Lake Winona.
A few years ago, the only people who were interested in the plants growing along the shoreline of Lake Winona were the park maintenance staff in charge of mowing.
Under direction of city staff, who took direction from a previous City Council, who took direction from residents, they mowed to keep the plants short and the water visible from the bike path. Residents then thought healthy, attractive lakes were lakes with grass mowed right to the edge. This practice helped lead to erosion of the shoreline that required rock riprap to hold it in place. No one knew any better.
The Healthy Lake Winona group would like to see a change in this city park maintenance practice. To improve the lake, we need a naturalized shoreline, which offers the following benefits:
- Filters stormwater runoff and reduce pollution
- Encourages native plants
- Supports pollinators
- Discourages geese and ducks from coming ashore and leaving excrement on the grass and sidewalks
- Prevents erosion of the lake’s edge
- Protects fish spawning beds in the shallows next to the shore
The MPCA has listed Lake Winona as “impaired water,” because of the high amounts of phosphorus in it. High phosphorus levels promote weed growth. A naturalized shoreline will cut the amount of new phosphorus entering the lake.
To push this effort along, a lot of people have taken an interest in the plants growing along the shore of Lake Winona this summer and last. Who are they and what have they been doing?
- A small team of biologists and native plant experts have surveyed the plants growing around the lake to map what’s growing where.
- Volunteers with Healthy Lake Winona have yanked, bagged and disposed of mounds of wildly invasive garlic mustard from the path leading toward the former Kmart building.
- Seventh-graders from the Winona Middle School have pretty well decimated the invasive leafy spurge from the north side of the big lake.
- Landscape designers, individuals and classes from Winona State University have sketched ideas for how to improve the shoreline, beginning with a couple of small demonstration areas.
But they have also found other plants not so welcome: purple loosestrife, leafy spurge, wild parsnip, garlic mustard and buckthorn. These are species that have moved in within the last couple of decades. They are tough competitors for the natives, since they tend to take over.
The first step in naturalizing the shoreline is to leave a few feet of natural growth at the edge of the lake for the duration of this 2016 growing season. This will let all the plants complete their growth cycles so Healthy Lake Winona and city staff can clearly identify what is growing and make a plan for the shoreline.
In the meantime, if you see “weeds” growing at the edge of the big lake, be happy! Lake Winona is changing in a good way — it’s getting cleaner!
Pamela Eyden is a Winona City Council member and a representative of Healthy Lake Winona.