Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 06/01/2009

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. It is amazing how clear the Rum becomes in the fall. Part of this may be the water turnover, but my belief is that by then no one is fertilizing, the power boats can no longer use the river. When I lived on a lake, the DNR had homeowners volunteering to do Secchi disk data gathering. The Rum could so that at little cost and it would provide needed data to help improve the river. Pick some points at various critical spots and see if someone in that area or maybe a couple of people would be willing to do this. Power boats on the river is an issue no one wants to talk about. There needs to be a horsepower limit because the no wake zones are not doing the job. Erosion of the shoreline is a major problem due to fast speeds from large motors. I have lost four trees, two of them large and shoreline as a result of this. If you do not do something about this you are going to see a shoreline in the no wake zone that is all unnnatural rock because people need to protect their shoreline. Three homeowners in my area have done this in the last five years or so. I believe it was even done to River's Bend Park. · Lawn clippings in the street or gutter (2) . Mississippi and Rum rivers. . Mississippi River, Rum River, multiple storm drains . Not in our area as much but in the Mill Pond in Champlin. . Resident at [address removed] dumping leaves and branches into river and raking leaves into street. Non impervious surface causes oil from cars to enter water stream easier that impervious surfaces. . Road salt primarily near bridges . Rum River . Rum River looks polluted. I see residents letting their dogs relieve themselves in the natural grasses close to the river, where feces can make their way into the river. Rivers Pointe Townhome Association contracts with a landscape service. They use chemicals on the lawns that are adjacent to the park arid river. I would like to see them use an organic service and/or products to protect the river. After fertilizing the lawns I see excess fertilizer granules on the sidewalks and driveways that wash into the storm drain and are not diluted through the soil first. It would be nice if those residents who live on the river had to use organic products only on their lawns to protect the environment. . Shallow domestic well at my residence impacted by systemic pesticides used in adjacent farming practices. New well installed to deeper aquifer. Old well sealed. . The drainage pond north of my house seems to collect more than a fair share of crud. . The Mississippi River is in much better condition than it was when I first moved to it in 1957. Now my grandchildren love swimming in the river, playing and walking on the sandbars and fishing. More effort could be made to "pre-filter" road runoff before it enters the river. Neighbors who throw grass clippings into the river should be made to swim in them. . We all are on a daily basis . We live close to the Mississippi and many residents in the area use chemicals on their lawns that end up in the river; I feel they and others within range of impacting the river should be restricted from using harmful chemicals. . While driving over the bridge.