With the fishing opener just past, the long summer lake season lies ahead in Minnesota.

It’s a time Minnesotans treasure, a time to sit in the warm sand, swim, fish, ride on water tubes, or just cruise the lakes on a pontoon or in a kayak.

For anyone moving a boat in or out of the water or moving a dock to a different lake, summers now need to include some extra attention to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.

Nonindigenous plants and animals — including zebra mussels, Eurasian watermilfoil, flowering rush and macroalgae like Starry Stonewort — have increasingly found their way into our lakes.

They threaten the diversity and abundance of native species. They can affect the plankton, water quality and food chains in lakes, which can harm both fish life and recreational uses of our lakes.

Many counties, including those in this area, hire summer workers to monitor many of the busy boat landings in an effort to inspect boats and educate people on how to thoroughly clean a boat of invasive species. It’s a valuable program that counties should continue.

The steps to cleaning a boat that’s just been pulled out of a lake aren’t complicated.

• First, clean all visible aquatic plants, zebra mussels, and other prohibited invasive species from watercraft, trailers and any other water-related equipment before leaving the access.

• Drain boats, ballast tanks, portable bait containers, motor and drain bilge, livewell and baitwell by removing drain plugs before leaving.

• Dispose of unwanted bait, including minnows, leeches, and worms in the trash. It is illegal to release bait into a water body or release aquatic animals from one water body to another. If you want to keep your bait, you must refill the bait container with bottled or tap water.

To avoid getting a ticket, remember that it is illegal to transport watercraft without removing the drain plug, arrive at lake access with drain plug in place, transport aquatic plants, zebra mussels, or other prohibited species on any roadway.

While people may not often sell their dock, if they do, it is important to remember aquatic hitchhikers can travel on that dock to another lake.

If buying, selling or moving a dock from one body of water to another, owners should make sure all zebra mussels, vegetation or other invasive species are removed and the dock is let dry for a minimum of three weeks before placing it in another water.

Hopefully, ways will some day be found to treat and remove invasive species from lakes that are already infected. But the best thing we can all do now is to prevent the spread of invasives whenever and wherever possible. Taking a few extra minutes to properly clean boats and other equipment is an easy step to protect our valuable water resources.

— Mankato Free Press, May 21