A healthy shore is a happy lake

Butterflies and bees have also discovered John and Joyce Wilking’s Green Lake shoreline garden. A luxurious mix of native plants, with their blossoms of purple, yellow, white and pink, are teeming with insects darting back and forth between them. “I love being able to look down from the house in the morning and see all the different pops of color from the garden,” Joyce says.

Mickey Carlson doesn’t have many bees or blossoms on her Kroon Lake shoreline yet – she planted in the fall and her plants were still only inches tall by summer of 2022 – but that hasn’t deterred her from hanging a, “Please excuse the weeds, we’re feeding the bees,” sign in her garden. “I like the thought of doing something that makes a difference for the environment, but I am also excited that the plants can help to reduce erosion on my steep shoreline when they get established,” she says.

In the Land of 10,000 lakes, more and more lakeshore landowners are turning toward natural solutions that combine bio-engineering with deep-rooted, native plants to stabilize the land along the water’s edge while also maintaining connected corridors of habitat for beneficial insects, fish, birds, frogs, turtles and other kinds of wildlife. These native shorelines are designed to withstand wind, waves, and ever-changing water levels and also play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity. 

This winter, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) debuted a new tool that evaluates biology, terrestrial and aquatic connectivity, geomorphology, hydrology, and water quality in order to assess the overall health of watersheds across the state (www.dnr.state.mn.us/whaf). Looking at the Lower St. Croix River Watershed as a whole, from Pine City all the way down to Hastings, the DNR assigned an overall watershed health score of 59/100, with startlingly low ratings for terrestrial habitat quality (16/100) and terrestrial habitat connectivity (19/100). Not surprisingly, the metro Mississippi River watershed ranks even worse, with an overall health score of 42/100 and terrestrial habitat and connectivity scores of 8/100 and 10/100, respectively.

As shoreline and terrestrial habitat vanishes, so too does the biodiversity in our local lakes, including several that are well-known for excellent water quality. Local residents and scientists alike are seeing fewer fish, less diversity in the insects and aquatic invertebrates, and cascading impacts to the overall ecosystem. In 2022, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency added Bone Lake (Scandia) and Lake Jane (Lake Elmo) to the state’s impaired waters list due to biodiversity loss, and warned that Big Carnelian and Big Marine are at high risk as well.

The most important action that lakeshore landowners can take to protect the fish, birds, and wildlife that we love is to maintain terrestrial and shoreline habitat where it still exists and begin working to enhance low-quality habitat with a wider variety of native plants. 

This spring, the East Metro Water Education Program and Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership will co-host two free webinars. Protect Your Shore (Tuesday, April 18, 6:30-8 p.m.) will focus on the benefits of native shorelines; shoreline rules and regulations; seasonal maintenance; establishing native species to improve shoreline habitat; and resources and funding available for landowners. Learn more and register at tinyurl.com/protectyourshore. 

Restore Your Shore (Monday, May 8, 6:30-8 p.m.) will explore bio-engineering strategies that harness the power of nature to guard against erosion while also restoring habitat. This workshop will showcase lakeshore design examples that incorporate pathways, docks and access to the water, while also providing healthy habitat for pollinators, fish and wildlife. Learn more and register at tinyurl.com/restoreyourshore. 

Barbara Heitkamp is a water educator for the East Metro Water Resource Education Program and Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership. Contact her at 651-796-2218 or bheitkamp@mnwcd.org. 

Angie Hong coordinates the East Metro Water Education Program, a local government partnership with 30 members in Chisago, Isanti and Washington Counties - www.mnwcd.org/emwrep. Contact her at 651-796-2210 or angie.hong@mnwcd.org.