DNR releases updated infested waters list

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released its Designated Infested Waters List on July 30. The list is available as a download online at www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/index_aquatic.html.

The list contains the following new listings:

--Bighead and silver carp, Lake Pepin

--Eurasian watermilfoil, Lake Carlos, L’Homme Dieu (Douglas), Shamineau (Morrison, Goodview (Winona)

--Faucet snails, seven unnamed ponds in Becker County (and on White Earth)

--Flowering rush, Buck Lake (Becker)

--Zebra mussels, Buck Lake (Becker), Pelican (Crow Wing), Mill Pond (in Pelican Rapids in Otter Tail), Pelican River from Bucks Mill downstream to Otter Tail River in Becker and Otter Tail, Minnewaska, Emily, outlet creek, two ponds and four wetlands (Pope)

With the additions of these 26 water bodies, there are now more than 600 lakes and rivers on the DNR Designated Infested Waters List, plus numerous unnamed ponds and wetlands.

The most recent list of waters infested with zebra mussels now stands at 92 lakes and rivers plus an additional 18 unnamed ponds and wetland areas. In 2009, only 40 lakes and rivers were designated infested, plus an additional six unnamed ponds and wetlands.

According to Terry Kalil, vice president of Becker County COLA, the increased infestation is an epidemic for Minnesota’s lakes and rivers, fish and native plants. When they suffer, Main Street suffers.

Anyone who thinks they have found zebra mussels in any Becker County water body is encouraged to follow Minnesota law and report it immediately to DNR’s Nathan Olson, AIS specialist at (218) 739-7576, extension 259.

Back in 2009, faucet snails were found in only one Minnesota lake. Today, 17 lakes and rivers contain the snails, which carry bacteria that kill waterfowl.

An additional seven unnamed ponds and wetlands in Becker County in and near White Earth Reservation contain faucet snails compared to none statewide in 2009.

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