​Lake Riley Neighbors,


2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, so I thought I would bring a little good news to the forefront.

For some of you who have been living on or enjoying Lake Riley for years, you will recognize that the water this year has been exceptionally clear.   Some of you who are new to the lake may not realize what a big change this is.  In our first years here, in the mid 80’s, it was not unusual to have nearly opaque lake water this time of year.  On calm days, algae would float to the surface and drift to one side of the lake and the unfortunate residents on that side would be treated to a pretty strong smell.  As recently as August 2012 you couldn’t see your toes when standing in 2 feet of water. 

We have seen some great improvement over the last few years, but this summer is really tremendous.   Attached is a graph of the clarity measurements since 1992.  The red line is this year. What a difference!  

There are several factors that probably lead to this.   The University of Minnesota, along with our Lake Association and the Riley, Purgatory, Bluff Creek Watershed District, did an extensive study of managing carp, and ended up removing most of them.   Rice Marsh Lake now is managed to prevent reintroduction of young carp.    This year, a second application of Alum bound up more of the phosphorus in the water, and it certainly seems to have worked.   Maybe the presence of the early population of Zebra Mussels is helping to clarify the water too.    

Additionally, the lake weed population seems to have diversified, with less solid matts of Eurasian Milfoil. Aquatic plants were also studied by the University and some targeted management has been carried out by the watershed district.   I recall years of only coontail, milfoil and curlyleaf pondweed.  Now I see patches of several native lake plants, a good thing!

Let's hope that the trend continues and all do our best to protect our new clear water.

To all those that contributed over the years, thank you!

-John Bushey 

Now that we are into the summer boating season and with the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, I wanted to send out a reminder about a few key rules related to operating watercraft on the lake.  
 
I’ve gotten some questions / comments from people concerned about people’s safety, and we want to make sure that everyone is able to enjoy their time out on the lake.  Pease remember these rules are intended to help everyone enjoy beautiful Lake Riley – and do so safely.
 
Please keep in mind the following (and remember these are just a handful of the full boating regulations):

• Personal watercraft (i.e. jet ski) operation is allowed only from 9:30 a.m. to 1 hour BEFORE sunset.
• Operation of personal watercraft (i.e. jet ski) within 150 feet of any shoreline must be limited to straight in/out or slow-no wake.
• Personal watercraft cannot jump the wake of another watercraft within 150 feet of the watercraft (often a concern for personal watercraft following wake surfing boats).
• Operation of motorized watercraft within 100 feet of any shoreline must be limited to emerging straight out from and straight towards the shoreline, or slow-no wake operation (Chanhassen rule)
• Pulling someone behind a watercraft (i.e. water-skiing, tubing, wake-surfing, etc.) is allowed only from sunrise to 30 minutes AFTER sunset.  
• When pulling someone behind a watercraft (i.e. water-skiing, tubing, wake-surfing, etc.) the boat and person being towed must stay more than 150 feet from other people or structures (Eden Prairie rule).
• Navigation (if underway) or anchoring (if anchored) lights must be on from sunset to sunrise.
• Life jackets are required to be worn for children under 10.  A readily accessible life jacket is required for each person onboard (includes canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards).  One throwable is required on boats 16 feet or longer.
• Structures such as swimming rafts, boat lifts, buoys, etc., which do not extend from shore, cannot be in the water between sunset and sunrise unless allowed under permit issued by county sheriff.

 
The 2019 Minnesota DNR Boating Guide is available at the link below for further reference.
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/boatwater/boatingguide.pdf
 
There are of course pages of rules between Minnesota, the City of Chanhassen, and the City of Eden Prairie.  Probably the most important one of all is to please be courteous, respectful, and friendly to your fellow users of the lake.  Lake Riley is a public resource for all to enjoy, and we all need to do our part to make sure we treat others the way we would like to be treated out on the lake.

If you are looking for a list of plants and flowers that work best for native plantings along the shoreline, in buffer zones, and in rain gardens around Lake Riley to help keep the lake clean and healthy, click on the link below.  The Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District periodically provides training and volunteer opportunities for interested citizens.  You can also checkout their website at:  www.rpbcwd.org.
​

​Great news.  The Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District will be initiating the first dose of the Rice Marsh Lake alum treatment in the next couple weeks.  As a reminder, Rice Marsh Lake is the first body of water upstream of Lake Riley on Riley Creek.  The alum treatment will reduce the amount of phosphorus in the water flowing into Lake Riley, which will help reduce the frequency and intensity of algae blooms and ultimately contribute to improved water quality in Lake Riley.  
 
As a reminder, Lake Riley had an alum treatment of its own in 2015 (and a second dose is planned in 2020), which has had a very positive impact on water quality in the lake over the last few years. 
 
More info on the Rice Marsh Lake treatment is available at:  https://ricemarshlakealum.wordpress.com/ (thanks Bob Adomaitis for the link).  A Project Demonstration Day is being held on September 26 at 1:00pm on Erin Bay Rd for anyone interested in seeing firsthand what this is all about.

​LRIA Members,
Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a great end to 2017, and that 2018 is off to a fantastic start.  Wanted to provide some key information from recent Watershed Board meetings.  One item to pay particular attention to is item number 1, the Watershed 10-Year plan, which is currently out for public comment.  See below for details and links.
 

1. The Riley, Purgatory, Bluff Creek Watershed District 10 year plan is currently available for public comment before it becomes finalized.  This plan is important because it outlines the priorities and projects for the watershed district over the next 10 years.  Comments can be made directly into the PDF through the website, or a printout can be marked up and delivered to the Watershed office.  Additionally, comments can be sent to the LRIA board and we can pass along to the watershed.  Comment period ends January 15th, 2018.

http://www.rpbcwd.org/news/comment-draft-watershed-management-plan/
 

1. The Board of Managers for the Watershed has extended the deadline for applications to the 2018 Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) until January 26, 2017.  An initial 10 members were confirmed in December, but they are hoping to get 2 additional.  See link below if you are interested.

http://rpbcwd.org/index.php/?cID=645

1. Watershed received approval to hire an office and outreach assistant to support many of the activities the office works on.  Link below in case any LRIA members are interested.  Deadline to apply is January 16, 2018 at 4:00pm.

http://www.rpbcwd.org/news/were-hiring1/
The next monthly Watershed Board Meeting will be February 07, 2018 from 7:00pm-9:00pm at the district office located at 18681 Lake Drive East Chanhassen, MN 55317
.  Meetings are open to the public and all are welcome to attend if interested.  Please reach out with any questions.  

Thanks,

-Bryan Maloney