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9.e. Watercraft Inspection Summary 2020 Supervisors: Louise Smallidge ▫ Bob Rosenquist ▫ Diane Blake ▫ John Rheinberger ▫ Jim Levitt MEMORANDUM TO: CMSCWD Board of Managers Council of the City of Scandia Square Lake Association Big Marine Lake Association FROM: Matt Downing, Washington Conservation District DATE: 12/3/2020 RE: Countywide Watercraft Inspection Program Thank you for your support of the 2020 AIS Watercraft Inspection Program. With your commitment to the resources of your watershed combined with those of the county and state, an additional 850 hours of inspections were performed that otherwise would not have. In CMSCWD alone, 9,561 inspections were performed. This was 4,527 more inspections than those in 2019. As in previous years, emphasis was placed on Square and Big Marine Lakes, with 6,971 inspections occurring on Big Marine. Through the inspection process, boaters were educated on how to better protect the lakes they are using, and steps were taken every inspection to ensure that invasive species were not introduced into each lake at the time of launch/transportation away from the lake. Attached you will find a summary of the 2020 season that was prepared for Washington County. Please contact me if you have any questions about this or any other aspect of watercraft inspections. I look forward to working with you in the future on prevention and management of invasive species. Supervisors: Louise Smallidge ▫ Bob Rosenquist ▫ Diane Blake ▫ John Rheinberger ▫ Jim Levitt Washington County AIS Inspection Summary Points 2020 The WCD supervised 10 DNR authorized Level 1 Watercraft Inspectors for the 2020 season. Funding was received from Washington County, Carnelian Marine St. Croix Watershed District (CMSCWD), Big Marine Lake Association (BMLA), Square Lake Association (SLA), the City of Scandia, Ramsey County Soil and Water Division (RCSWCD), Bald Eagle Lake Association (BELA), Valley Branch Watershed District (VBWD), Lake Demontreville Olson Association (LDOA), and Clear Lake Association (CLA). These inspectors were present at 17 water access locations starting May 9th through October 9th. During the inspection season, 3,381 hours of inspections occurred resulting in 15,513 inspections. Compared to 2019, 212 more hours of inspections occurred, and 6,540 more inspections were performed. The increase in hours and substantial increase in inspections performed was thanks to the addition of new partners (LDOA, CLA) and increased funding from existing partners. Additionally, increased outdoor recreation during the season was a likely contributor to increased inspections. The number of inspections performed in 2020 was approximately 173% more than the number performed in 2019. Entering versus exiting inspection percentage was comparable to previous years’ results; the statewide average distribution is 60/40 entering to exiting. As with previous years, emphasis has been placed on entering inspections to prevent new infestations. However, exiting inspections are equally important to prevent infestations from spreading. 8379, 61% 5252, 39% Inspection Breakdown 2020 Entering Exiting 6439 8989 15513 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 2018 2019 2020# of InspectionsYear Inspections per Year Supervisors: Louise Smallidge ▫ Bob Rosenquist ▫ Diane Blake ▫ John Rheinberger ▫ Jim Levitt There was an increase in drain plug violations in 2020, both the number and as a percentage of inspections. Previously the rate of violation had been dropping each year—in 2015 the rate of violation was 9% and dropped to 4% by 2019. The increase this year to 5% is concerning, but due to increased inspections and increased boater activity the slight increase is not entirely surprising. It is possible that a large number of new boaters were active this year due to COVID-19 restricting indoor activities which may account for some of the violation increases. Efforts should be made moving forward to increase education regarding drain plug laws to reduce the number of violations and continue the previous trend of decreasing violations each year. Steps should also be taken to better partner with local law enforcement to better enforce AIS laws. 4% 96% Drain Plug Violations 2019 (Incoming Inspections) Drain plug is in Drain plug is out 5% 95% Drain Plug Violations 2020 (Incoming Inspections) Drain plug is in Drain plug is out 54% 46% Incoming Drain Plug Violations 2019 (Status of Last Lake In) Violations from Infested Violations from Non-Infested 84% 16% Incoming Drain Plug Violations 2020 (Status of Last Lake In) Violations from Infested Violations from Non-Infested Supervisors: Louise Smallidge ▫ Bob Rosenquist ▫ Diane Blake ▫ John Rheinberger ▫ Jim Levitt Of incoming drain plug violations where the last lake visited was reported, 84% had come from waters infested with zebra mussels, flowering rush, spiny water flea, or Eurasian water milfoil. This is a steep increase from 2019’s results, which show 54% of violations were previously in an infested lake. Fifty-two percent of these violations had Bald Eagle, Big Marine, DeMontreville, the Saint Croix River, or White Bear listed as the previous lake. Of the 8,346 incoming inspections performed in 2020, 352 violations were observed. This is only a slight increase from the number of incoming violations in 2019 (339), and a smaller percentage (4% in 2020, 6% in 2019). The most common violations were aquatic plants attached to the boat or trailer and were able to successfully be removed prior to launch. There were six incoming zebra mussel violations observed; in two of these incidents the zebra mussels were dead and able to be removed by hand. In the other four instances, the boaters were denied launch and sent to decontamination sites. Additionally, all zebra mussel violations were forwarded to the DNR for enforcement. 4997 339 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 Total AIS Observed 2019 (Incoming) No Yes 7994 352 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 Total AIS Observed 2020 (Incoming) No Yes Supervisors: Louise Smallidge ▫ Bob Rosenquist ▫ Diane Blake ▫ John Rheinberger ▫ Jim Levitt 84 1399 1342 1194 4065 38 2868 33 90 969 558 613 60 5 1083 1088 21 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 62000101, SILVER, SILVER LK PWA 62000201, BALD EAGLE, COUNTY PARK 82004601, SQUARE 82004901, BIG CARNELIAN, BIG CARNELIAN 82005201, BIG MARINE, NORTH 82005202, BIG MARINE, SOUTH 82005203, BIG MARINE, REGIONAL CTY PK 82005901, GOOSE, GOOSE 820101, MISSISSIPPI RIVER, MISS - ST PAUL PK PWA 82010101, DEMONTREVILLE, DEMONTREVILLE 82010401, JANE, WEYER`S LANDING 82010601, ELMO, ELMO 82011501, TANNERS 82014001, ONEKA 82016301, CLEAR, CLEAR LK 82016702, WHITE BEAR, CO PWA 820208, ST CROIX RIVER, LOGHOUSE ACCESS Total Inspections by Landing 2020 Supervisors: Louise Smallidge ▫ Bob Rosenquist ▫ Diane Blake ▫ John Rheinberger ▫ Jim Levitt Inspections were performed at all 17 landings throughout the boating season. As in previous years, the highest number of inspection hours were conducted at Big Marine, followed by the rest of CMSCWD, and VBWD. Square Lake received additional inspection hours this year thanks to increased contributions from SLA. In VBWD, DeMontreville received the most inspection hours due to increased funding from LDOA. Historic boater patterns also played a part in distribution of hours. Big Marine was the most inspected lake in 2020 as in previous years. Bald Eagle once again had the second most inspections conducted, followed by Square. Big Carnelian, Clear, White Bear, and DeMontreville had similar inspection numbers. With the exceptions of Goose, Log House, and Elmo, each landing in CMSCWD and VBWD had an increase in inspections in 2020 compared to 2019. In addition to increased inspections, efficiency with inspections per hour has also increased overall. This can be at least partially attributed to increased understanding of boater use patterns. It is also likely that an overall increase in boaters in 2020 contributed to this increase in efficiency. White Bear and Bald Eagle had the highest rates of inspections per hour, 11.76 and 9.78 respectively. Inspections at both of these landings were conducted only on Saturdays and Sundays during times of heavy use (Bald Eagle 5am-10am; White Bear 5-8:30pm). 1.57 9.78 2.65 3.57 6.93 1.12 6.09 0.48 2.05 3.84 2.52 3.07 1.56 0.83 3.46 11.76 1.36 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 Average Inspections per Hour 2020 Supervisors: Louise Smallidge ▫ Bob Rosenquist ▫ Diane Blake ▫ John Rheinberger ▫ Jim Levitt Please note: although this summary addresses trends and data for Washington County lakes it references only those that are serviced by the Washington Conservation District. All the lakes located in CLFLWD have inspections performed by CLFLWD or Chisago County staff. Also note that the MNDNR performs inspections on many of the high use landings in the county, as well as being primarily responsible for the access points on the Saint Croix River.