Minnehaha Creek Watershed District 2005 Hydrologic Data Report February 2006 Prepared by: Sarah Roley MCWD Water Quality Assistant And Lorin K. Hatch, PhD MCWD Water Quality Specialist 2005 HYDRODATA REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS A. Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………… vi B. Introduction and District-Wide Summary……………………………………...…… 1 C. Subwatershed Summaries…………………………………………………………..… 41 1. Minnehaha Creek…………………………………………………………………41 2. Lake Minnetonka…………………………………………………………………86 3. Christmas Lake………………………………………………………………….151 4. Lake Minnewashta………………………………………………………………157 5. Schutz Lake……………………………………………………………………...169 6. Six Mile Marsh…………………………………………………………………..173 7. Langdon Lake……………………………………………………………………201 8. Dutch Lake………………………………………………………………………208 9. Painter Creek…………………………………………………………………….214 10. Long Lake……………………………………………………………………....228 11. Gleason Lake…………………………………………………………………...239 D. Initiatives……………………………………………………………………………….247 Expanded monitoring; alum effectiveness index; diatom-inferred pre-development lake TP concentrations; Minnehaha Creek E. coli study; use of remote sensing to assess water quality; Stubbs Bay algal management; New USGS gauge on Minnehaha Creek at Hiawatha Avenue; STORET data transfer; Analysis of long- term Minnehaha Creek water quality data; Restoration of the Painter Creek Wetland south of County Road 26; Real-time monitoring of water quantity; Lake- wide Lake Minnetonka phosphorus model; Lake Minnetonka bathymetric and macrophyte survey Appendix………………………………………………………………………………….262 A. Hydrologic data monitoring plan B. Lake and stream characteristics C. Data summaries: precipitation, groundwater, flows, loads, E. coli D. Acronyms, glossary of water quality terms, references, and index of lake and stream report cards i LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Lake report card grades for Lake Minnetonka bays, 1998-2005 Table 1.2 Mean 2005 summer surface Secchi disk transparency, chlorophyll a concentration, total phosphorus concentration, and trophic state index means for Lake Minnetonka bays Table 1.3 Lake report card grades for upper watershed lakes, 1998-2005 Table 1.4 Mean 2005 summer surface Secchi disk transparency, chlorophyll a concentration, total phosphorus concentration, and trophic state index means for upper watershed lakes Table 1.5 Lake report card grades for lower watershed lakes, 1998-2005 Table 1.6 Mean 2005 summer surface Secchi disk transparency, chlorophyll a concentration, total phosphorus concentration, and trophic state index means for lower watershed lakes Table 1.7 Northern Central Hardwood Forest Ecoregion vs. Minnehaha Creek 2005: median, mean, and maximum concentrations (summer) Table 1.8 2005 late-summer dry-weather DO profiles in Minnehaha Creek Table 1.9 Aerial export of nutrients and sediments to Minnehaha Creek Table 1.10 Northern Central Hardwood Forest Ecoregion vs. upper watershed streams 2005: median, mean, and maximum concentrations (summer) Table 1.11 Upper watershed areal loads Table 1.12 Upper watershed stream samples below 5mg/L DO (part 1 and 2) Table A1 2005 upper watershed lakes sampling conducted by MCWD Table A2 2005 upper watershed lakes sampling conducted by Three Rivers Park District and Metropolitan Council Table A3 Minneapolis lake sampling conducted by the MPRB Table A4 Lake level monitoring sites Table A5 Minnehaha Creek monitoring conducted by MCWD Table A6 Upper watershed stream monitoring conducted by MCWD Table A7 Precipitation gauge network Table A8 MCWD monitoring program quality assurance/quality control summary Table B1 Lake characteristics in the MCWD Table B2 Lake Minnetonka bay characteristics Table B3 Creek sampling locations in the MCWD Table B4 Precipitation gauge locations in the MCWD Table B5 Subwatershed characteristics in the MCWD Table C1 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport precipitation Table C2 Groundwater monitoring well elevations (above mean sea level) Table C3 Lake elevation gauge readings (feet above mean sea level) Table C4 2005 discharges and loads Table C5 E. coli (CFU/100 mL) in 2005 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Figure 2 Long-term and 2005 precipitation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport monitoring site Figure 3 Lake Minnetonka elevation (above mean sea level) and Grays Bay Dam discharge during 2005 open-water conditions Figure 4 Upper watershed runoff calculated from Grays Bay dam discharge setting, 1991 to 2005 Figure 5 Stream monitoring locations on Minnehaha Creek Figure 6 Average annual flow at the Browndale Dam (site CMH03) Figure 7 E. coli grab samples in Minnehaha Creek, 2005 Figure 8 E. coli 30-Day geometric means in Minnehaha Creek, 2005 Figure 9 2005 TP and SRP loading profile for Minnehaha Creek Figure 10 2005 TN and TSS loading profile for Minnehaha Creek Figure 11 Stream monitoring stations in the upper watershed Figure 12 Average annual discharge in Painter Creek at West Branch Road Figure 13 In-stream TP and SRP loading for upper watershed streams Figure 14 In-stream TN and TSS loading for upper watershed streams Figure 15 1997-2005 TP load to lake Minnetonka from gauged subwatersheds Figure 16 E. coli grab samples in Six Mile and Painter Creeks, 2005 Figure 17 Geometric mean E. coli data in upper watershed streams, 2005 Figure 1.1a Minnehaha Creek subwatershed Figure 1.1b Sampling sites on Minnehaha Creek Figure 1.2 Lake Calhoun Figure 1.3 Cedar Lake Figure 1.4 Diamond Lake Figure 1.5 Lake Harriet Figure 1.6 Lake Hiawatha Figure 1.7 Lake of the Isles Figure 1.8 Lake Nokomis Figure 1.9 Powderhorn Lake Figure 1.10 Minnehaha Creek at Grays Bay Dam Figure 1.11 Minnehaha Creek at I-494 Figure 1.12 Minnehaha Creek at W. 34th Streeet Figure 1.13 Minnehaha Creek at Excelsior Boulevard Figure 1.14 Minnehaha Creek at Browndale Dam Figure 1.15 Minnehaha Creek at W. 56th Street Figure 1.16 Minnehaha Creek at Upton Avenue Figure 1.17 Minnehaha Creek at Chicago Avenue Figure 1.18 Minnehaha Creek at 32nd Avenue Figure 1.19 Minnehaha Creek at Hiawatha Train Bridge Figure 2.1 Lake Minnetonka subwatershed Figure 2.2 Carsons Bay Figure 2.3 Cooks Bay iii Figure 2.4 Crystal Bay Figure 2.5 East Upper Figure 2.6 Forest Lake Figure 2.7 Grays Bay Figure 2.8 Halsted Bay Figure 2.9 Harrison Bay Figure 2.10 Jennings Bay Figure 2.11 Lafayette Bay Figure 2.12 Lower Lake North Figure 2.13 Lower Lake South Figure 2.14 Maxwell Bay Figure 2.15 North Arm Figure 2.16 Peavey lake Figure 2.17 Priests Bay Figure 2.18 Shavers Lake Figure 2.19 Smithtown Bay Figure 2.20 Spring Park Bay Figure 2.21 St. Albans Bay Figure 2.22 Stubbs Bay Figure 2.23 Wayzata Bay Figure 2.24 West Arm Figure 2.25 West Upper Figure 2.26 Classen Creek Figure 2.27 Forest Lake Creek Figure 2.28 Halsted Bay Inlet North Figure 2.29 Halsted Bay Inlet South Figure 2.30 Peavey Lake Creek Figure 2.31 Stubbs Creek Figure 3.1 Christmas Creek subwatershed Figure 3.2 Christmas Lake Figure 3.3 Christmas Creek Figure 4.1 Lake Virginia subwatershed Figure 4.2 Tamarack Lake Figure 4.3 Lake St. Joe Figure 4.4 Lake Minnewashta Figure 4.5 Virginia Lake Figure 4.6 Minnewashta Creek Figure 5.1 Schutz Lake subwatershed Figure 5.2 Schutz Lake Figure 6.1 Six Mile Marsh subwatershed Figure 6.2 Pierson Lake Figure 6.3 Wasserman Lake Figure 6.4 West Auburn Lake Figure 6.5 Parley Lake Figure 6.6 Lake Zumbra Figure 6.7 Steiger Lake iv Figure 6.8 Six Mile Creek at Highway 5 Figure 6.9 Steiger Lake Creek Figure 6.10 Sunny Lake Creek Figure 6.11 Six Mile Creek at Lunsten Lake Outlet Figure 6.12 Six Mile Creek at Highland Road Figure 7.1 Langdon Lake subwatershed Figure 7.2 Langdon Lake Figure 7.3 Langdon Creek Figure 8.1 Dutch Lake subwatershed Figure 8.2 Dutch Lake Figure 8.3 Dutch Creek Figure 9.1 Painter Creek subwatershed Figure 9.2 Painter Creek at Deborah Drive Figure 9.3 Painter Creek at CR 6 Figure 9.4 Painter Creek at CR 26 Figure 9.5 Painter Creek at Painter Drive Figure 9.6 Painter Creek at West Branch Road Figure 9.7 Painter Creek at CR 110 Figure 10.1 Long Lake subwatershed Figure 10.2 Long Lake Figure 10.3 Long Lake Inlet Figure 10.4 Long Lake Outlet Figure 10.5 Long Lake Creek at Brown Road Figure 11.1 Gleason Lake subwatershed Figure 11.2 Gleason Lake Figure 11.3 Gleason Lake Inlet Figure 11.4 Gleason Lake Outlet Figure D.1 A tipping-bucket precipitation gauge Figure D.2 Potential volunteer monitoring sites Figure D.3 Title slide for the 2005 NALMS Conference presentation Figure D.4 Drs. Hatch and Edlund with extracted bottom core taken from Carsons Bay in April 2005 Figure D.5 Cage for containment of dye-free fabric; placement of mesh bag into storm drain; recovery of fabric after exposure in the stream Figure D.6 Water clarity in the MCWD as assessed by satellite in 2000 (from UMN) Figure D.7 A Solarbee recirculation unit Figure D.8 Secchi depth and chlorophyll-a concentration over time in Stubbs Bay, Lake Minnetonka Figure D.9 USGS gauge on Minnehaha Creek at Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis Figure D.10 Data posted on the USGS website (late Dec. 2005 - early Jan. 2006) Figure D.11 Painter Creek Improvement Project Figure D.12 ELCOM-CAEDYM model representations (Univ. Western Australia) v Executive Summary The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District’s (MCWD) annual Hydrologic Data Program is designed for the collection of background water quality and quantity data. The program is a collaboration between the Three Rivers park District (TRPD), the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), the Metropolitan Council (Met Council), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD), and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR). Data collected is entered into a database, which is used to identify water quality trends, track progress, and analyze water related problems.