|
|
Link to Minnetonka
photos
Lake Minnetonka, located 20 miles due west of Minneapolis/St. Paul (about
10 miles south of Lake Independence) is a collection of 16 interconnecting
lakes with about 23 named bays and areas. The lake was formed by glacial
melting during the last Ice Age. At 14,500 acres (22.6 sq miles) it
is the 10th largest lake in Minnesota.
Lake Minnetonka is a valued natural and recreational resource in the
Twin Cities metro area. It's large size, recreational opportunities,
fisheries, location within the metro area, aesthetics, and rich cultural
history make Lake Minnetonka well known in Minnesota as well as the
nation.
The
lake was originally a wild rice lake of great importance to the Native
Americans (Dakota Sioux and Ojibwa) that lived in the area. Water quality
was degraded over time by the thousands of summertime visitors and the
associated huge hotels, which dumped large amounts of untreated human
waste and other garbage into the lake. As the lakeshore was further
developed and the population became a year-round community, the lake
received millions of gallons of partially treated wastewater each day
from outmoded sewage treatment plants. In 1969, the Metropolitan Council
prohibited discharge of sewage effluent to all of the lakes in the Metro
area, resulting in a significant improvement in the clarity and quality
of Lake Minnetonka. Today, development pressure remains high and the
watershed continues to change from agricultural to large lot residential
and city development.
We chose two bays in Lake Minnetonka for our RUSS sites, Halsteds Bay
and West Upper Lake, for the following reasons:
1. We wanted to compare and contrast two adjacent regions of the lake
that had very different water quality.
2. We wanted to find out how important short-term mixing events from
storms were in controlling oxygen, nutrients, and algae in Halsteds
Bay.
