People can comment through Nov. 18
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is seeking public input on a request from the Wheatland Twin Lakes Sportsmen Club to install and operate an aeration system on Cody Lake in Rice County, west of Lonsdale and east of Montgomery.
The DNR would like to hear from lake users and stakeholders and will consider those perspectives in its decision-making.
“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.”
Winterkill is a natural process and not all results are detrimental to a lake’s ecosystem. In lakes with high numbers of carp, periodic winterkill can thin out their numbers. In lakes that support native fish, the fish population can rebound quite dramatically in years following winterkill.
Cody Lake has not been aerated since 2014. At that time, the DNR worked with the club to cease aeration, because the practice was leading to less winterkill and providing refuge to common carp. A goal of the lake management plan since 2014 has been to rely on periodic winterkill to reset the fish population, allowing more successful northern pike or walleye stocking and suppressing common carp.
The sportsmen club proposes aeration at Cody Lake as a possible solution to prevent winterkill. The club proposes that preventing winterkill in the lake could increase game fish population stability.
Comments will be accepted through Tuesday, Nov. 18. Interested parties may forward their comments to: Regional Fisheries Manager Craig Soupir by email at [email protected], by mail at 21371 MN Hwy 15, New Ulm, MN 56073, or by phone at 507-461-9377.