Public comment ends Nov. 18
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking public input on the potential installation of an aeration system on Cody Lake between Lonsdale and Montgomery within Wheatland Township in Rice County. This would essentially be a reinstating of aeration that had been turned off a number of years ago operated by Wheatland Twin Lakes Sportsmen Club (WTLSC).
WTLSC, working under new leadership this year, has been doing a number of improvements to the Cody Lake public access site area that resides between Cody Lake and Phelps Lake.
WTLSC President Will Shell said that the club has installed new picnic tables and a new permanent grill on the southern side grassy area that abuts Phelps Lake, and the northern half has new gravel over the parking area and a seasonal porta potty (warm months) that rests next to fishing pier and lake access. “We hauled in five loads of gravel in there,” said Shell. “That’s 100 tons of rock.”
Shell lives on the lake near the amenities and has before the DNR instituted a lake management plan in 2017. He says that the sportsmen club agreed to shut off the aeration system ahead of that time when they were talking with the DNR about the plan, which was supposed to kill off or control the invasive carp in the lake during winterkill years. The club shut the aeration system off after the spring of 2014.
“Lake aeration in the state’s southern region is used on several shallow lakes to prevent a winterkill of fish,” said Craig Soupir, DNR southern region fisheries manager. “Aeration systems agitate and oxygenate water, helping to limit the number of fish that die due to a lack of oxygen in the water.”
Cody Lake today
Common carp seem to have been controlled...
Push to install
Earlier this year...
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Public comment
There is limited time to provide comment on the aeration request on Cody Lake by WTLSC. Comments to the DNR will be accepted through Tuesday, Nov. 18. Interested parties may forward their comments to: Regional Fisheries Manager Craig Soupir by email at craig.soupir@state.mn.us, by mail at 21371 MN Hwy 15, New Ulm, MN 56073, or by phone at 507-461-9377.
Shell says Scott Mackenthun of the DNR Waterville Area Fishery is supposed to also be at WTLSC’s next meeting in the American Legion in Montgomery on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 6:30 p.m. People should provide their comments to the DNR ahead of the meeting though, as it’s not a public hearing.
