Garfield Lake Residents,

  We had a bit of good news over the last week or so, regarding Garfield Lake.  We had RMB Labs do a vegetation survey in an area of about 100+ yards around the boat landing looking specifically for any signs of zebra mussel or any AIS vegetation concerns.  They ( 2 employees of RMB) spent about 1 ½ hours in a boat “raking weeds from the bottom” and looked in detail at what they found.  Their findings showed nothing of concern!  Great news !!

They will be putting this data together in some organized form showing what they found ;  where (the specific spot) and how much.  We will share this with you guys when we get it but we wanted to pass on this good news now.  Greg, Mark and I were able to see how they did this.  We have some photos we took which we will pass on.ww.facebook.com/garfieldlakeassociation/

Dan Fitch

President

Garfield Lake Association

This is an update of the 2021 Boat Landing AIS Inspection program for Garfield Lake based on the latest updates from all participating entities.

We have recently received notification from the Hubbard County Environmental Specialist, Nick Macklem, who administers the Hubbard County Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Program.  He has received the state funding for the 2021 program and allocated it the participating lakes.  The detailed information can be found on his link to the Hubbard County AIS Webpage.

During this past year, the following entities have continued to partner with the GLA in funding supplemental AIS Inspection hours for our landing:

City of Laporte

Lakeport Township

Hart Lake Township

We appreciate, as lake shore owners, the commitment shown by the surrounding communities who also appreciate the lake.

The 2020 program lost some state contribution mid-year due to budget constraints related to the pandemic, but it still was the largest hours of inspection time we have received since the program began.  The 2021 program hours exceed this past year.  The following chart summarizes the funding of the program since inception including this coming year:

The contributions for supplemental funding are generally made in January, this years deadline is January 31, 2021.  The GLA will make its’ contribution this month and works with the city and townships to assure they also meet the deadline.

As a reminder, the GLA’s contribution is funded by the fundraising efforts in 2019 and has not been funded by GLA dues.  This effort funded 3 years of contributions and more fundraising will be needed for the 2023 program year.

This information is from the Hubbard County Coalition of Lake Associations (HC COLA) regarding an annual survey administered by them:

Many thanks to the 135 individuals who completed the 2020 Eyes on the Water Survey. And thanks to everyone who monitored their lakeshores, equipment, accesses and the lake itself for Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS).

While invasives continue to threaten Minnesota’s lakes, Hubbard County lakes are still relatively invasive-free.

As “first responders” you play a key role in locating AIS on your lake. Early detection has proven to be an effective way of stemming the subsequent spread of AIS to other lakes.

The following new infestations were detected in 2020:
Long Lake – zebra mussels
Big Mantrap – eurasion water milfoil
Boulder – faucet snails

Summary information from the survey has been tabulated and can be found here: http://hubbardcolamn.org/eyes-on-the-water—early-detection.html

Wishing you all a restful and HEALTHY winter,

Jeff Mosner

Hubbard Coalition of Lake Associations

Even though COVID 19 had us somewhat locked in, it was another great summer on Garfield Lake and seemed like there was a lot of activity on the Lake. The July 4th fireworks were outstanding and the fishing was good for those that know how to catch them.

For the summer of 2020, we had 22 Zebra Mussel Tubes (ZMT) distributed around the lake with 21 respondents that reported there was no evidence of any mussels on the tubes, their docks or boats.

ZMT are a simple section of PVC pipe that we hand from our docks about a foot above the bottom, they are smooth hard surfaces that make it easy to detect zebra mussels as they start to develop and attach to hard surfaces around the lake.  This is an early warning system to identify a coming problem.

This is very positive news, but we must continue to practice and educate everyone on the following:

• Clean all visible aquatic plants, zebra mussels, and other prohibited invasive from watercraft, trailers, and water-related equipment

• Clean all visible aquatic plants, zebra mussels, and other prohibited invasive from watercraft, trailers, and water-related equipment

• Clean all visible aquatic plants, zebra mussels, and other prohibited invasive from watercraft, trailers, and water-related equipment

The Board would like to thank all those that have assisted in the monitoring the ZMT’s for 2020 and look forward to 2021 monitoring and remember, if anyone else wants to get involved for next year just sent me an email at ceclark49@icloud.com and someone will get you a ZMT.

Have a Great and Safe winter.

Charlie Clark

ZMT Coordinator

Hello GLA Members,  yesterday we heard back from Sharon Natzel, President of Hubbard County Coalition of Lake Associations (HC COLA) that the second Zebra Mussel Veliger (ZMV) test we did this year ( July 2020) showed the presence of 2 veligers.  Bummer.  I am sure we are all disappointed as we have gone for the last 3 samples without finding one.   As you may recall, we take these water samples at 3 points around Lake Garfield two times a year, June and July.  We started this ZMV testing in July 2017,  before we were a lake association.  As of today, we have still not seen the presence of any adult zebra mussels.

I guess one take away from this is the importance of being diligent in monitoring access to  our lake and the importance of the Clean-Drain-Dispose efforts to keep the AIS from spreading.

1.  CLEAN all visible aquatic plants  from your watercraft, trailers, and water-related equipment before leaving any water access or shore land.

2. DRAIN water-related equipment (boat, ballast tanks, portable bait containers, motor) and drain bilge, live well and baitwell by removing drain plugs before leaving a water access or shoreline property. Keep drain plugs out and water-draining devices open while transporting watercraft.

3. DISPOSE of unwanted bait, including minnows, leeches, and worms, in the trash. It is illegal to release bait into a waterbody or release aquatic animals from one waterbody to another. If you want to keep your bait, you must refill the bait container with bottled or tap water.

If you are interested, click here the actual RMB Lab report that shows the presence of these 2 veligers.  It is no big deal but I thought one of our members might be interested in seeing what it says.

As it shows in our GLA By Laws, the mission of the GLA is to “protect and enhance the  quality of the lake”.   We will continue to work with those who can help us do that for Garfield.  If you have any questions regarding this please contact any of the Board members using their emails shown on the GLA website: https://garfieldlakeassociation.com/

Thank you for being a member and supporting Garfield Lake.

Ron Ray, President   

                Zebra Mussel Veliger Test Results                           

                Garfield Lake 2017 – 2020                             

                RMB Labs Results                            

                June Test                             July Test

2020       none found                        2 veliegers                                              

2019       none found                        none found                                       

2018       1 veliger                               1 veliger                                              

2017       not taken                            1 veliger