Lake Independence Citizens Association

AIS Inspection: Good news!

Very little milfoil or other AIS

On a beautiful summer day, an AIS inspection team including Pat and Dick Wulff, Joel Settles, Merry Petitclair and Robin Reid set out on Lake Independence to look for any signs of invasive species. The team was surprised to find very little vegetation; most of the shoreline areas were plant-free. The only exception was the west side of the lake, where there are bullrushes bordering the shoreline, and patches of lily pads.

Joel tosses the rake to collect plants

There were only a few locations where coontail and Eurasian milfoil were visible. The milfoil observed along the shoreline earlier this summer has died back. Even normally abundant coontail was scarce. The patches of vegetation that were located consisted of coontail entwined with strands of half-dead milfoil. The native coontail appears to be driving out the invasive Eurasian milfoil. As expected, the team did not find any curly-leaf pondweed; it generally  appears in the spring and dies in July. 

Pat searches for starry stonewort and zebra mussels

The inspection turned up no signs of starry stonewort, an invasive algae that has been discovered in several Minnesota lakes. Early detection is critical for controlling the spread, so we remain vigilant. No zebra mussels were found during the inspection, but a few have been discovered  recently by lakeshore owners. Fortunately, the critters don’t seem to like our lake and we’re not seeing the large clusters found on other nearby lakes.  

Water Level Chart Here