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Lake Marion homeowner seeks to preserve shoreline
Posted 6/9/00 by John Sucansky Jay Riggs looked out over a point of land jutting into the north end of Lake Marion as wind and waves washed into a collapsed retaining wall. Riggs is an urban conservationist with the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District (DCSWCD). The property he is helping to restore belongs to Larry Ganse and is rented by Frank Gaylord. A scenic point of land that sticks out into what Riggs referred to as, ìa large south-north fetch of Lake Marion,î contains the dilapidated shoreline. He said a fetch is where there is a long stretch of open water with a prevailing wind that buffets a shoreline. According to Riggs, the property owner wanted to rebuild the collapsed retaining wall along the shore and called the DNR to obtain permission. The DNR suggested that Ganse and Gaylord contact the DCSWCD. Enter Riggs, who immediately saw the potential for a shoreline preservation and naturalization project. Riggs suggested this project, pitching it as more cost-effective and safer for wildlife and native plants. Riggs said that he and Gaylord have coordinated the entire project. The project began with suggestions and ideas last fall. The project is being paid for with various grants and property ownerís money. ìThe land owner is paying 50 percent, and the DNR and Legislative Commission for Minnesota Resources (LCMR) are suppling a $4,000 grant, along with a $1,000 grant from the DCSWCD,î said Riggs. According to Riggs, the grant money from the LCMR comes form state lottery tickets. The DNR and LCMR are using the site as a lakescape demonstration project. ìThis will be one of 18 demonstration projects, some just involve planting aquatic vegetation, but this will include native prairie plants, aquatic vegetation and underwater buffer walls to protect the shoreline,î said Riggs. The steps in the project include removing the existing retaining wall, grading of the property down to the shore, constructing rock buffer walls under the water that will deflect waves from the planting zone, planting native land and aquatic vegetation and replanting a black willow tree that was removed from the site. The prairie shoreline will extend 30 feet from the shore into the property, and the aquatic vegetation will extend out from the shore into the water approximately 10 to 15 feet, according to Riggs. The total amount of shoreline that will be affected by the project is 330 feet, around the point. Riggs said the benefits of preservation as opposed to rebuilding a retaining wall are better protection of the shoreline, creation of fish and wildlife habitats, and it is less expensive because it is supplemented by state money. During the process of grading the soil, a black willow tree was removed to allow construction machinery to work close to the shore. ìWe will replant it in roughly the same spot, but angle it closer to the water to act as a wind buffer,î said Riggs. The tree was torn violently from the ground by a backhoe machine, but according to Riggs, ìItís a black willow. Those things will grow anywhere. I think you could plant it upside down and it would still find a way to grow.î Every part of the property that is torn up will be recycled into the new shoreline. Rocks from the existing shore will be used in the new buffer wall. The construction of the project is being carried out by a Hastings contractor Tom Otto. ìThis is a hell of a job,î said Otto. ìUsually we have a blueprint or written plan of attack to follow, but here we have to make it up as we go.î The project is difficult for the contractor because there isnít a lot of room for the backhoe to work in between the water and the retaining wall and he has been concerned for the safety of his crew and machinery. ìDown on the point, we will get away from the shore and put the backhoe up on the hill, working down to the shore,î said Otto. He said that he has worked with his crew since he started his business in 1991 and they are experienced enough to improvise in a situation like this one. The entire project is expected to be complete in several weeks with the help of volunteers for planting. Riggs said the city of Lakeville has been interested in the project and City Engineer Tim Brown had been very supportive. ìLake Marion is the place we would most like to see a project of this nature take place, because it is the largest, most used and number one surface water priority in Lakeville,î Brown said. Brown said that the cityís water quality would definitely stand to benefit from a project of this nature. ìIt is an excellent idea, and we are excited about using it as an example for other residents, not just for the improvement of water quality, but for aesthetic reasons as well,î he said. Direct water runoff is filtered better, and prairie and aquatic vegetation use the runoff more efficiently than sod, said Brown. ìSod has been described to me at conferences as ëa carpet with a chemical dependency problem,í î he said. Brown said another concern that a project like this helps to curb is erosion. ìSod does not have a deep root system to retain soil in a high energy zone like a shoreline. However, a prairie shoreline will be resilient to the effects of waves and wind,î he said. Brown said that projects like this are only possible because the science of lake management has improved so much in the last 10 years, and people are learning that they canít chemically force a lake into something. Brown also said that this project has had perfect timing. ìIt fit a clear need, the money was available, and it is a highly visible example on our largest lake,î he said. Brown said he believes money for projects like this are limited. ìNot every resident will find the state resources available to conduct a project like this,î he said. Having enough funding available has a direct relationship with the general publicís perception of the value of shoreline restoration, said Brown. Brown said that this is the biggest project in Lakeville he has seen since he started here. ìIt is difficult to attempt aquatic plant restoration because not many people understand the needs of aquatic plants in a natural environment,î he said. Brown said that with examples like the project on Lake Marion, and more information available about the subject, residents might change their minds about the importance of shoreline restoration and more funding might become available. Information about the site can be seen on the DCSWCD Web page at www.dakotaswcd.org, and Brown said that a cable show is currently in the works through the city of Lakeville to present the project to residents. For more information, or to ask about volunteering time for the project, contact Riggs at (651) 4880-7779, or e-mail him at jay.riggs@co.dakota.mn.us.
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