GENEVA — It has been almost five years since Geneva Lake underwent a major facelift in December of 2006 as a part of the Living Lakes effort run by Ducks Unlimited.

Ducks Unlimited paid $150,000 for a variable-crest steel-sheet-pile weir which allows the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to regulate water levels on the lake. The ability to regulate the water levels helps maintain a level of clarity in the lake.

“This year has really come into its own with really good water clarity,” said Jeannie Vorland, DNR area wildlife manager in Owatonna. “The lake has a lot of submerged aquatic plants good for the fish and water-life.”

Originally, a fixed-crest dam on the lake made it almost impossible to regulate the water levels, which spurred the movement of invasive fish, such as carp into the area. This movement threatened the ecosystem and the other fish that were dominant in the lake.

As a way of counteracting the issue of the invasive fish, the new dam was retrofitted with a fish net. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was also able to lower the levels of the lake and apply a chemical treatment which removed most of the invasive carp from the lake.

After the processes were complete, Ducks Unlimited announced Geneva Lake has an improved habitat for the wildlife and the lake water was becoming clearer.

“It lived up to our expectations,” said Vorland. “It is a good project and the lake turned around.”

Beginning in 2007, the DNR began to repopulate the lake with two species of fish that are indigenous to the area. They released large numbers of northern pike and yellow perch into the lake.

In 2007, 348,028 northern pike were released into the lake weighing in at 5.9 pounds. Northern pike were again released in 2008 and 2009 at totals of 225,720 and 222,525 fish, respectfully.

The northern pike were released as fry. A fry is a newly hatched fish. Walleye fry are one-third of an inch, or around 8 mm.

Yellow perch were also added to the mix in 2008. The DNR released more than 2,000 adult yellow perch into the lake totaling 45 pounds.

Vorland said the natural populations of those fish were so good last year that increasing the populations was unnecessary.

Geneva Lake is a 1,875-acre, shallow wetland basin with an average depth of about three feet. The old fixed-crest concrete dam, constructed in 1953, did not allow the lake to be drawn down to lower water levels that mimic natural processes.

“We tried some additional fish management actions, it was stocked with perch and pike,” Vorland said. “It took quite well after the initial stocking. It took quite well to recreational fishing last winter and in the summer.”

Freeborn County owns all of the structures but has given the DNR the ability to manage lake levels again if the lake returns to the state it was in prior to the new facilities.

Fish stocking in Geneva Lake
Year     Species     Size         Number     Pounds
2009     northern pike         fry         222,525     4.0
2008     northern pike        fry         225,720     3.8
2008         yellow perch        adults         2,075         415.0
2007        northern pike        fry         348,028     5.9

— Information courtesy DNR