Sweeney Lake Water Quality Project Open House April 8 At Brookview

From the City of Golden Valley:

Posted Jan. 31, 2020

An informational open house is being held April 8, 5:30–7:30 p.m., at Brookview for community members to learn about the Sweeney Lake Water Quality Improvement Project. The open house is hosted by the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission (BCWMC), in cooperation with the City of Golden Valley and the Sweeney Lake Association.

Due to Sweeney Lake’s high levels of nutrients, it currently does not meet state water quality standards. It’s excess nutrients, such as phosphorus, have resulted in harmful algal blooms and poor water quality that has potential to impact aquatic life, recreation, and aesthetics. The high nutrient levels have a large impact in downstream waters including Bassett Creek and the Mississippi River.

The Sweeney Lake Water Quality Improvement Project aims to control nutrients that originate within the lake. Planned activities include:

• surveying and removing curly-leaf pondweed from the lake
• removing common carp from the lake and Schaper Pond (just south of the lake) to reduce the impact of carp stirring up sediments and releasing nutrients into the water
• performing an alum treatment with aluminum sulfate that binds to phosphorus and prevents the release of nutrients from the lake bottom

Funding for this project is proposed to come from the BCWMC’s Capital Improvement Program. Additional project funding will come from a federal grant through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The project is expected to begin later this year.

For more information on the project and open house, visit the BCWMC website.

This press release was produced by the City of Golden Valley. The views expressed here are the author’s own.