WILLMAR -- Lake Wakanda area residents believe water monitoring tests conducted by citizens over the past three years show polluted storm water runoff from Willmar exceeds state water-quality standards and has degraded Lake Wakanda's water quality.
But a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency representative says her agency doesn't really know for sure whether Willmar is a major contributor to the lake's degraded water quality because no water quality standard has yet been set for nutrient levels in storm water runoff.
These conflicting opinions were expressed Tuesday during an informational meeting held by the city of Willmar and the MPCA at the Fire Station to discuss the city's proposed storm water pollution prevention program.
The meeting was held to tell citizens about the requirements of the city's storm water discharge permit, details of the proposed storm water prevention program, and to respond to public comments.
Lake Wakanda residents Linda Bjornberg and Marilee Druskin said they have an interest in the city's storm water management program because they live downstream from the city, and they said the water and lakes near their homes and neighborhoods are greatly harmed in part by Willmar's storm water runoff.
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They said water testing has documented phosphorus and fecal levels in the storm water discharged at the culvert near Little Dukes and into Ditch 23A just east of the Kandi Mall to be up to 360 times higher than the state of Minnesota water quality standards. (Phosphorus causes algae blooms, which deplete oxygen in the water).
They said the pollutant concentrations have contributed to the destruction of aquatic and wildlife habitat and impaired water quality.
They said they were encouraged that the city intends to meet the permit requirement of six minimum control measures, which mean street sweeping, mapping of the city storm water system, strategy to educate the public about ways to help prevent pollution, and developing and implementing a strategy for reducing pollutants in storm water discharges.
They said Lake Wakanda and Big Kandiyohi Lake are on the MPCA's 2008 proposed list of impaired waters, and they said they still believe the watershed may require extra protection or a special permit with the city.
Also, they encouraged the city to continue to address storm water issues and fund improvements that will result in improved runoff quality and volume of storm water discharged into Ditch 23A.
Responding to their concerns, City Public Works Director Mel Odens said their statement about destroyed habitat was a subjective opinion and does not define what water quality standards and pollutant concentrations are being violated.
Odens assured his listeners that the city is committed to meeting best management practices to reduce runoff pollution.
Also, he said the city is required to have an impaired waters review process that will look at waters as they are listed, and will identify discharges that have the potential to affect those impaired water.
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Odens said a special permit with the city to protect the watershed is not justifiable at this time. He said studies to determine total maximum daily loads (TMDL) of polluting nutrients have not been completed for Lake Wakanda.
He said the city will review future TMDL requirements as they are implemented. He said the city's permit states the city must reduce pollutant loads, develop a tracking system and begin strategies to reduce pollutants to storm water.
Anna Kerr, an MPCA municipal storm water management specialist, said there is not a standard for storm water discharge.
"So there's not a standard that says that storm water run off must contain X number of pollutant or less to meet water quality standards. Is this Ditch 23A truly the main volume of water that's getting into the lake? Is it coming from non-point sources? Is there an ag contributor?'' she asked.
"There are a lot of different components. We just can't say for certain now what the major contributors are,'' she said. "Certainly that's going to be a component that'll be looked at.''
After the meeting, Druskin said she wishes the process of improving the water quality could be speeded up. She said water quality practices in Willmar "affect us downstream in a very major way.''
