Be A Good Neighbor
We all like good neighbors.
Most of us try to be good neighbors ourselves, too.
We all know it’s not neighborly to throw our snow into our neighbor’s driveway when we clear ours, so we don’t do that.
We all know it’s not neighborly to blow our leaves onto our neighbor’s yard when we do our Fall chores, so we don’t do that.
We all know it’s not neighborly to send our pets next door to relieve themselves, so we keep them in our own yards.
So is it neighborly for the Lake Mallalieu Association (LMA) to flush up to 13,352 pounds of phosphorous in sediments from the Lake Mallalieu impoundment of the Willow River into the St. Croix River, as the LMA’s consultant has calculated would result from a 7.5-foot drawdown of Lake Mallalieu during September 2026 through May 2027?
Keep in mind that St. Croix County has been working since 2013 to reduce human-caused phosphorous loading to Lake St. Croix in the St. Croix River by 38%, through 373 conservation contracts costing $4.4-millions of our taxpayer dollars.
Keep in mind that Lake St. Croix is just a short way downstream from where the requested drawdown of the Lake Mallalieu impoundment would dump up to 13,352 more pounds of phosphorous.
We know just one pound of phosphorous can grow from 300 to 500 pounds of algae by wet weight. When we do the math, we find 13,352 more pounds of phosphorous in the St. Croix River can grow 6,676,000 more pounds of algae in the St. Croix River.
That doesn’t seem neighborly to me.
Flushing Lake Mallalieu’s phosphorous filled sediment into the St. Croix River will cause downstream ecological, human health, and economic harms. It will increase water pollution, increase algal blooms, make fish unsafe to eat, close swimming beaches, and hurt Hudson’s brand as a clean water recreational destination on the St. Croix River.
The LMA should instead work with its neighbors throughout the Willow River watershed and along Lake Mallalieu shorelines to reduce runoff of sediments carrying phosphorous and other pollutants.
That’s what good neighbors do.