EAST GOOSE ADAPTIVE LAKE MANAGEMENT
Blue-green algae blooms are detected on East Goose Lake in White Bear Lake during the late summer and fall. People and pets should avoid all contact with water, scum, or algae in lakes that have active blue-green algae blooms, also known as potentially harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs may cause short-term and long-term harm including skin irritation, gastrointestinal problems, and/or liver damage. When in doubt, keep out.
The Challenge:
The challenge of urban shallow lakes such as East Goose Lake is maintaining or achieving high water quality in areas dominated by pavement, buildings, and often a legacy of pollution. The natural ability of a lake to buffer polluted water can be exceeded by the input of stormwater from the surroundings. This input builds up over time, and pollution accumulates. A history of pollution into East Goose Lake has resulted in an unhealthy lake that is dominated by algae. Dense algae in the water blocks sunlight and depletes oxygen in the lake, which outcompetes aquatic vegetation. Native aquatic vegetation is critical for fish and other wildlife.
Balancing clean water and aquatic vegetation in shallow lakes is a challenge because people often associate clean lakes with sandy bottoms. However, this is not natural for shallow lakes in our region of Minnesota, where these lakes depend upon a healthy native plant community.
The Solution:
Organizations including VLAWMO and the City of White Bear Lake are required to take steps to improve East Goose Lake. Improving the health of East Goose Lake is a long-term challenge requiring several components:
- Engagement and communication
- Data collection and using the best available science
- Careful decision making
- Adapting over time based on results
What is Adaptive Lake Management?
Adaptive Lake Management is flexible and allows adjustments over time. A suite of management strategies is selected and implemented based on best available science and then modified depending upon results. On East Goose Lake, there are four main strategies: Fish management, aquatic vegetation management, internal pollution management, and subwatershed best management practices.
Management strategies:
- Subwatershed Best Management Practices (BMPs) are practices that reduce the amount of pollution in stormwater that enters the lake. Examples include raingardens and shoreline restorations. VLAWMO works with community partners to plan and fund these projects. Adding more BMPs around East Goose Lake will support the lake’s long-term health and help internal load reduction strategies last over time. VLAWMO’s cost-share grant program is available for residents, businesses, schools, and community organizations to plan and install projects that support the health of East Goose Lake.
- Yard care: Visit the water stewardship at home page to learn about yard care strategies that help improve stormwater runoff as it travels from your property to the lake.
- Adopt-a-drain: Visit adopt-a-drain.org to help strive for "only rain down the drain." Find your nearest drain on a map, give it a fun name, and learn how to participate in the program. Adoptions in the East Goose Lake subwatershed will receive a free “We protect Goose Lake” yard sign.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the history of East Goose Lake?
Goose Lake was historically a large wetland with open water areas. This changed when development occurred over time, and roads were routed through the area. In past decades, stormwater requirements differed from what they are today. Runoff from the growing city supplemented natural water levels in East Goose Lake and turned what was primarily a wetland area into a shallow lake.
Sketch of Goose Lake from circa 1885, courtesy of White Bear Lake Historical Society
As development continued, an increasing human population needed improved wastewater treatment. East Goose Lake was selected as the place to put that wastewater. From the 1930s to the late 1960s, the City of White Bear Lake’s wastewaster was discharged into East Goose Lake. This is important because the nutrient additions that occurred over this time period have resulted in a lake that is extremely high in nutrients. Those nutrients are concentrated in the lake sediment and continue to cycle into the water today, stimulating algae blooms that outcompete plants. With high amounts of algae and no plants, only tolerant fish that can survive in a low-oxygen environment, such as bullhead and some small sunfish, remain. Note: Currently, the City of White Bear Lake’s wastewater is pumped to the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant in Saint Paul.
This aerial photo shows Goose Lake in 1940. East and West Goose are one large wetland complex with some areas of open water, from the VLAWMO GIS Resource.
This aerial photo shows Goose Lake in 1953. Highway 61 now bisects East and West Goose Lake, and a wetland complex has been converted into a shallow lake, from the VLAWMO GIS Resource.
By 1953, Highway 61 was re-routed from the western edge of Goose Lake into a new road that ran through the center, dividing Goose Lake into East and West Goose Lakes. East Goose Lake was assigned the designation of shallow lake at this time, while West Goose Lake remained classified as a wetland. Since the 1960s, the East Goose Lake subwatershed transitioned from mostly rural, agricultural land to suburban development.
What can we learn by looking at the data collected in East Goose Lake over time?
What trends can we observe?
Lakes are dynamic systems with considerable variability from year to year. Water monitoring data have been conducted in East Goose Lake for many years. In the early years of monitoring, standardized monitoring was not conducted. Some seasons may have been only represented by a single or a few data points. These are not reliable, but they gave VLAWMO a start. Standardized monitoring, following MPCA protocols, was initiated after a few years. Standardized monitoring includes taking the same measurements every two weeks for the entire growing season in Minnesota (from May through September). When looking at data, the MPCA recommends looking at the past 10 years to understand trends and status in the lake.
Over the past 10 years, East Goose Lake has consistently exceeded State standards for:
- Phosphorus: A nutrient that stimulates algae and plant growth.
- Chlorophyll a: A measure of algae in the water that is obtained from the chloroplasts inside the algae. Chlorophyll a is the compound inside the chloroplasts that makes them look green.
- Secchi depth: How far down into the water you can see. Clear water means larger secchi depth readings.
It gets complicated for people to keep track of many different variables, so phosphorus levels are often used when talking about water quality. In shallow lakes, the State standard is 60 µg/L. The 10-year average for phosphorus on East Goose Lake is 218 µg/L, which is more than 3.5 times the State standard. East Goose Lake has the poorest water quality of any of the lakes in the Vadnais Lake Area Watershed.
Long-term trends on East Goose Lake indicate a waterbody in a high-nutrient (hyper-eutrophic) state.
Plant surveys conducted periodically over the years by Ramsey County Soil and Water Conservation Division support this poor water quality assessment. While a few years ago, there were a few plants remaining in East Goose Lake, it is now dominated by algae. No plants were detected as part of the most recent survey in 2019.
Graphs are useful tools for visualizing trends in water quality. The graph below shows trends in phosphorus and chlorophyll a over the past 10 years. Phosphorus levels have oscillated some, but show an average of 218 µg/L, more than 3.5 times the State standard. Chlorophyll a has been consistently above the shallow lake standard of 20 µg/L.
How does East Goose Lake compare to other lakes in the watershed?
East Goose Lake is one of 5 impaired shallow lakes in the Vadnais Lake Area Watershed. East Goose Lake has the most negative values for impairment out of these 5 lakes. Six other lakes in VLAWMO are in good health, indicated by their water-quality data that shows that they meet State standards for phosphorus, chlorophyll a, and Secchi depth.
Why is East Goose Lake a priority?
East Goose Lake is a priority for the City of White Bear Lake and VLAWMO for several reasons:
- According to the Metro Area Surface Water Management Act of 1982, Cities and watershed organizations are required to take steps towards improving local water resources. With over 50% of Minnesota’s waterbodies listed as impaired, a collective improvement in State waterbodies entails planning, implementation, and demonstrable improvement by responsible parties, including cities and water-management organizations.
- A complex history of East Goose Lake reveals decades of policies and actions that had negative consequences for habitat and water quality. The City and VLAWMO value having an ability to repair what was done in the past.
- East Goose Lake is valued by the City of White Bear Lake as a high visibility gateway.
- Over the past decade, data has been gathered and studies have been completed to identify the best and most cost-effective strategies for improving the lake. These same strategies have been used to improve water quality in many other shallow lakes in the Twin Cities metro area.
- East Goose Lake is a headwaters to a major drinking water supply. Stewardship of broader regional water resources is important for water quality and water security now and in the future.
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Phone: (651) 204-6070
Fax: (651) 204-6173
Email: office@vlawmo.org
