July 25, 2023
At the July Water and Wetlands meeting the Stewards moved forward with an agenda packed with reports, discussions and actions that ranged from a review of the past legislative session to considering future concerns and proposals. Here are a few topics that were addressed:
- Limits to wake boats on Minnesota lakes. Wake boats kick up huge wakes to make surfable waves and often damage water quality & vegetation. Water and Wetlands stewards have been assisting communities across the nation with strategies for managing wake boat usage while maintaining water quality and wildlife. This is a proposed legislative priority for the North Star Chapter.
- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency paper on aquatic life water quality standards for nitrate concentration. It proposes draft numeric standards for nitrate to protect aquatic life in lakes and streams designated as Class 2 waters of the state.
- The 2022 decision by the EPA to deny a petition to remove neonicotinoid coated seeds from its list of unregulated products, essentially continuing to protect them from regulation as a pesticide. According to Hardy Kern, director of the Pesticides and Birds Campaign for the American Bird Conservancy, “the EPA’s decision today to deny the petition request to exclude pesticide-coated seeds from the treated article exemption represents a blow to grassland and insect-eating birds.”
Summer fun on or near Minnesota's waters is on the mind of many Stewards. We'll be getting our boats, canoes, and kayaks down from the rafters and heading out soon!