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Administrative Section Administrative Section SERVING TIlE COMMUNITIES OF: MINNETONKA CHANHASSEN DEEFHAVEN EDEN PRAIRIE ExCELSIOR GREENWOOD SHOREWOOD TaNKA BAY VICfORlA WOODLAND RECEIVED MAR 2 1 2008 CITY OF CHANHASSEN Youth Programs Minnetonka Community Education 4584 Vine Hill Road Deephaven, MN 55331 (952) 401-6801 (952) 401-6805 fax March 19, 2008 City of Chanhassen PO Box 147 Chanhassen MN 55317 Dear Jerry Ruegemer, Enclosed is a copy of the beach report from the summer of 2007. Thank you for your continued partnership with Minnetonka Community Education in providing lifeguarding services for beach patrons. If you have any questions about the attached report, you may contact Sarah Sparks at 952-401-6827. Please let me know you would like to make any changes for the upcoming summer. We look forward to another great summer. Sincerely ~~... Tim Litfin Minnetonka Community Education Director Youth Programs Minnetonka Community Education 4584 Vine Hill Road Deephaven, MN 55331 (952) 401-6801 (952) 401-6805 fax A. Beach Report for Lake Ann Beach: City of Chanhassen - Summer 2007 SERVING TIlE COMMUNITIES OF: MINNETONKA CHANHASSEN DEEPHAVEN EDEN PRAIRIE ExCELSIOR GREENWOOD SHOREWOOD TaNKA BAY VICfORlA WOODLAND 1. Attendance averages for each month August 5.52 8.21 9.94 17.7 23.5 18.6 15.8 4.73 6.73 2.94 3.84 2.57 1.57 Time 11:00 11:30 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 6:30 7:00 7:30 8:00 June 10.5 14.0 22.2 29.5 37.68 36.5 37.18 28.5 15.5 11.2 9.36 5.68 3.54 July 8.2 17.0 18.9 25.6 25.9 25.2 25.38 17.8 18 11.5 10.3 7.22 7.12 2. Accidents or incidents 6-15-07 A patron asked the guards to speak to a group of boys that were swearing and causing problems on the beach. The guards asked the boys to stop or they would call the community service officer to the beach to speak to them. 7-9-07 A woman approached the lifeguards about a child that had defecated to the left of the dock. The beach was closed for 30-40 minutes while the guards cleaned up the area and allowed fresh water to move in. 7-14-07 At 2:00pm 911 was called for a 12-year-old child that stopped breathing and started to seize by the picnic tables around the concession stand area. The child was transported to the hospital by Ridgeview. 7-15-07 A mother let her young child run around without appropriate clothing on. The guard asked the mother to put a swim suit on the child or leave the beach. A few patrons did leave the beach because of the nudity of the child. 3. Groups or parties The Minnetonka Explorers Club visited the beach every Wed. from 12:30pm-3:30pm, There were no problems with the group. Other groups for baptisms and birthday parties visited throughout the summer. There were no problems reported 4. Swim Lessons at Lake Ann Session A June 18 -June 28 Session B July 9- July 19 26 children enrolled 23 children enrolled B. Recommendations for Summer 2008 1. Equipment requests: Minnetonka Community Education requests that the City of Chanhassen purchase three new umbrellas and holders. Please order the holders that come with the umbrella - the current ones do not hold the umbrella secure and the lifeguards are not able to hold on to them while they guard. Please contact Sarah Sparks for specifications and price format. We would like to request a water tight storage box located on the beach for rescue equipment; the existing box does not keep the rain out. 2. Schedules: Minnetonka Community Education asks that you continue to notify us of scheduled groups that are coming to the beach. This helps us plan staffmg accordingly. Seminary Fen Overview Seminary Fen includes 100 acres of the best quality calcareous fen in the Twin Cities portion of the Minnesota River Valley. It is also the most important site identified by the DNR's Minnesota County Biological Survey in all of Hennepin, Scott, and Carver Counties. The 600-acre site consists of calcareous fen, sedge meadow, emergent marsh, and shrub swamp native plant communities in wetland areas, with maple basswood forest and oak woodland on bluffs adjacent to the wetlands. The fen harbors eight state-listed rare plant species. There are more than 14 owners within the site, most of them private. Calcareous Fens Calcareous fens have been reported from 10 states, mostly in the Midwest. Approximately 200 are known in Minnesota, most of which are only a few acres in extent. Many are threatened by development or by changes in hydrology. Calcareous fens are characterized by a substrate of non-acidic peat and are dependent on a constant supply of cold, oxygen-poor groundwater rich in calcium and magnesium bicarbonates. The soils are almost always saturated. Shallow pools of water are typically present, surrounded by low, tussocky grass- and sedge-dominated vegetation. The substrate is springy or quaking underfoot. Calcareous fens Named for an old seminary that was once in the area, Seminary Fen contains one of the rarest types of wetland in the United States - a calcareous fen. Located in the cities of Chanhassen and Chaska in the Minnesota River Valley, this expansive wetland site also includes a trout stream, eight species of state-listed rare plants, and important wildlife habitat. have special protection under Minnesota state law (M.S. 103G.223; M.R. 7050; M.R. 8420). Calcareous fens may not be drained or filled or otherwise altered or degraded except as provided for in a management plan approved by the commissioner (M.R. 8420.140). Seminary Fen Studies In 2006, the Minnesota Department of Transportation initiated comprehensive hydrologic and ecological studies of Seminary Fen as part of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on proposed alternatives for a Trunk Highway 41 river crossing. They hired environmental consultants to conduct the studies. Reports from these studies are available at: http://oroiects.dot.state .ron. us/srf/041 /reoortlindex.html F en Vegetation Seminary Fen Protection and Management The most important factor in ensuring the protection of this site is maintaining the integrity of the hydrologic system. Mineral-rich springs create the conditions necessary for the plants that grow in calcareous fens. Protection of the bluffs above the wetlands is also important. Deposition of eroded silt from the bluffs encourages invasive non-native plants like reed canary grass. Runoff from golf courses, lawns, parking lots, roads, bridges, and other developed areas could add herbicides, salt, oil, and other pollutants to the wetlands. Management of the fen and adjacent wetlands should include periodic prescribed burning. Fire helps keep brush invasion to a minimum, controls cool-season non-native invasive plants, and stimulates growth of native plants. Voluntary conservation easements or acquisition by government or non-profit organizations would also help ensure protection. Rare Plant Species in Seminary Fen State threatened species: Carex sterilis Eleocharis rostellata Rhynchospora capil/acea Scleria verticil/ata Valeriana edu/is sterile sedge beaked spike rush hair-like beak-rush whorled nut-rush valerian State special concern species: Triglochin palustris marsh arrow-grass Cladium mariscoides twig rush Cypripedium candidum small white lady's slipper Small white lady's slipper Twig rush Valerian For more information contact: Hannah Texler Regional Plant Ecologist Division of Ecological Resources (651) 259-5811 Hannah. T exler@dnr.state.mn.us 04/04/08 Fact Sheet WHAT IS A CALCAREOUS SEEPAGE FEN? Calcareous fens are rare and distinctive wetlands characterized by a substrate of non-acidic peat and dependent on a constant supply of cold, oxygen-poor groundwater rich in calcium and magnesium bicarbonates. This calcium-rich environment supports a plant community dominated by "calciphiles," or calcium-loving species. These fens typically occur on slight slopes where upwelling water eventually drains away and where surface water inputs are minimal. Sometimes they occur as domes of peat that grow to the height of the hydraulic head. These settings create an unusual wetland regime where the substrate is almost always saturated to the surface, but flooding is rare and brief. Shallow pools of water in which marl precipitates are typically present surrounded by low, tussocky, grass- and sedge-dominated vegetation. The substrate is springy or quaking underfoot. The figures above and below illustrate the geologic features and groundwater flows that lead to the formation of calcareous seepage fens. Calcareous seepage fens are one of the rarest natural communities in the United States. These fens have been reported from 10 states, mostly in the Midwest. Approximately 200 are known in Minnesota, most of which are only a few acres in extent. They are concentrated at the bases of terrace escarpments in river valleys in southeastern Minnesota, on the sides of morainal hills and valley sideslopes in southern and west-central Minnesota, and on the downslope side of beach ridges in the Glacial Lake Agassiz basin in the northwest. There are also a few in northern Minnesota where upwelling groundwater reaches the surface within large, more acidic peatlands. HOW RARE ARE CALCAREOUS SEEPAGE FENS? Recharge zone Generalized regional cross section: Peat apron formed over valley terrace (diffuse groundwater discharge) Soil Drift .coarse Bedrock illustration by James A mendm er SOil Generalized regional cross section: Peat mound formed Recharge area over aquifer window on moraine flank Pothole (localized groundwater discharge) Buried outwash Till -calcareous Discharge area -coarse Till Page 1 Feb 2008 Fact Sheet WHY ARE CALCAREOUS SEEPAGE FENS PROTECTED? In addition to the rarity of the community itself, calcareous seepage fens support a disproportionately large number of rare plant species in Minnesota, four of which (*) occur almost exclusively in this community. Eight state-listed, rare plant species are known from calcareous seepage fens: Carex steri/is * Cladium mariscoides* Rhynchospora capil/acea * Fimbristylis puberula* Scleria verticil/ata Eleocharis rostellata Valeriana edu/is Cypripedium candidum Sterile sedge Twig-rush Fen beak-rush Hairy fimbristylis Nut-rush Beaked spike-rush Valerian Small white lady's slipper State threatened State special concern State threatened State endangered State threatened State threatened State threatened State special concern Calcareous seepage fens are highly susceptible to disturbance. Reduction in the normal supply of groundwater results in oxidation of the surface peat, releasing nutrients and fostering the growth of shrubs and tall, coarse vegetation that displaces the fen plants. Nitrogen-rich surface water runoff into fens promotes the invasion of aggressive exotic plants, especially reed canary grass, that also outcompete the fen plants. Flooding drowns the fen plants. The soft, saturated character of the peat makes almost any level of activity within them, by humans or domestic livestock, highly disruptive. HOW ARE CALCAREOUS SEEPAGE FENS PROTECTED? Under the Minnesota Wetlands Conservation Act (WCA), impacts to calcareous seepage fens are regulated by the Department of Natural Resources. According to the WCA, calcareous fens may not be filled, drained, or otherwise degraded, wholly or partially, by any activity, unless the commissioner of natural resources, under an approved management plan, decides some alteration is necessary (Minn. Statutes I03G.223). In addition to the protection afforded by the WCA, destruction of any state-threatened plants occurring on a calcareous fen may be regulated under Minnesota's endangered species law (Minn. Statutes 84.0895). For additional information, see the DNR website at: http://www.dnr.state.ron.us/ets/ index.html. The DNR maintains a list of known calcareous fens, which is available at the DNR's web site at: http://files.dnr.state.mn. us/publications/waters/Calcareous ] en_List. pdf. Landowners or others proposing activities that may affect a calcareous fen or that are interested in protecting or managing a calcareous fen should contact the DNR, Ecological Resources Division at 651-259-5125. Page 2 Feb 2008 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 1200 Warner Road st. Paul, Minnesota 55106 651-259-5816 January 17, 2008 Krista Spreiter Natural Resources Technician City of Chanhassen 7700 Market Blvd. PO Box 147 Chanhassen, MN 55317 Dear Ms. Spreiter: This letter is to inform you that your Department of Natural Resources, Shoreland Habitat Grant application has not been selected for funding. There were many more applications than grant dollars available this year, as we received $1.2 million in requests for $350,000 dollars available statewide. The selection committee commends the idea that the City of Chanhassen is looking at alternatives for shoreline protection. The committee felt that the project did not meet some of our minimum standards for funding, such as the depth of the buffer zone, the buffer should be at least 25 feet deep, with the bike path so close to the lake the buffer could not be made deep enough. The committee also had concerns that when installing the boulder toe, woody debris that was in the lake and protecting the shoreline would be removed. We understand that this is a difficult site to protect and a boulder toe may be necessary, but woody debris in lakes provide habitat for fish, wildlife, and invertebrates and is becoming harder to find along developed shoreline. Although the Shoreland Habitat Program will not be able to fund your project, I encourage you to continue with your plans to protect the shoreline of Lake Susan. Any work that can be done to enhance aquatic habitat is beneficial to the resource and is commendable. While you will not be receiving monetary support from this program, DNR staff is available to provide technical expertise and assistance or can direct you to other organizations to assist you with your project. If you have any questions pertaining to shoreland habitat restoration in general or your project specifically, please contact me at the number listed above or John Hiebert, Shoreland Habitat Coordinator at (651) 259-52] 2. Sincerely, Neil Vanderbosch Natural Resources Specialist - Fisheries An "qual Oppurlunilv LllIpluycr Whp Values Diversity DNI~ Information: G51-296-()1~)7 1999.G46b3f37 TTY 651-2%.5484 1-800-657-3929 MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT of NATURAL RESOURCES West Metro Fisheries Area Phone (952) 826-6756 9925 Valley View Road Fax (952) 826-6767 Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344 dary1.ellison@dnr.state.mn.us April 11, 2008 Mr. Derrick Johnson District Conservationist Natural Resources Conservation Service 219 East Frontage Road Waconia, Minnesota 55387 Dear Derrick: The City ofChanhassen submitted a grant application to our Shoreland Habitat Pro!:,'1'am last fall. The project was to reduce erosion problems and restore shoreland habitat along the northeast shore of Lake Susan in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The project wasn't funded for a number of reasons (see attached letter of January 17, 2008). I encourage you to continue with your plans to protect the shoreline of Lake Susan. Any work that can be done to enhance aquatic habitat and water quality is beneficial to the resource and is commendable. I f there's active erosion along this stretch of shore I ine the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recommends detennining the cause and taking corrective action. On small lakes like Lake Susan, wakes trom water recreation can be a substantial source of erosion. Short of curbing water recreation the DNR recommends using low impact methods to stabilize shorelines that will help protect property, water quality and habitat. The DNR encourages the planting of native vegetation to control shoreline erosion, enhance aesthetic values and contribute to better water quality. For native vegetation, we recommend using a mix of grasses, sedges, forbs, trees and shrubs. The seed source for these native plants should be within 200 miles of the planting site. For ideas on plants a good source of infonnation is the Restore Your Shore CO put out by the ONR. Also look at areas along the lake of undisturbed shoreline; nati ve plants b'1'owing there will be the most suitable for any type of shoreline restoration. Riprap, boulder toes and retaining walls can reduce erosion, but they can be expensive and negatively affect lakes by creating a barrier between upland areas and the shoreline environment. Riprap should only be used where necessary and never to replace a stable, naturally vegetated shoreline. A ONR area hydrologist should be consulted to determine whether the shoreline along the northeast side of Lake Susan needs riprap or other hard armor to stop erosion. The area hydrologist for Carver County is Jack Gleason (651-259-5754). Ifthere's a demonstrated need you may want to consider placing a combination of riprap and native vegetation. In most cases, vegetation will help stabilize riprap if planted between boulders and improve the appearance of the shoreline. Sincerely. ~~C~.~2-~ Daryl Ellison DNR Information: 651-296-61 1-888-646-6367. TTY' 651-296-5484. 1-800-657-3929 An Equal Opportunity Employer Who Values Diversity