From Tribune staff reports

A meeting on July 19 on the Pickerel Lake Sub-watershed is important for the people who live there, the environment, and the community as a whole. This informational meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday, July 19, in the Riverland Community College Auditorium.

The purpose of this meeting is to gather input and ideas on improving water quality in the sub-watershed. The Pickerel Lake Sub-watershed is one of 18 sub-watersheds in the Shell Rock River Watershed District.

The watershed district is trying to make the most out of a DNR project to improve the fish and wildlife habitat of Pickerel Lake and its watershed.

The DNR offered to raise $75,000 for the project if the watershed district provided an additional $25,000. The watershed district eagerly agreed.

The DNR plans to do a chemical kill of all fish in Pickerel Lake in the fall of 2004 or 2005. It then plans to use the lake for rearing perch and northerns.

The DNR will transfer only a minority of the fish to other lakes, leaving the rest for local anglers. Ducks Unlimited is also a project partner, and is paying for the planning and installation of a high velocity culvert in Shoff Creek to act as a carp barrier.

Hugh Valiant, DNR area fisheries specialist, will explain details of the plan at the July 19 meeting. He will also share information about best management practices for lakeshore.

The public will then have a chance to give comments and ask questions.

Also on the agenda are Dan Root, of Freeborn County FSA, who will speak on the Conservation Reserve Program, and Andy Henschel, of Freeborn County Environmental Services, who will speak on individual sewage treatment systems.

This meeting is the next step in writing a water management plan for the sub-watershed. After completing the plan, the watershed district will hold a public hearing, then adopt the plan, and begin implementation.

If you have any questions, call Alan Bakken, Pickerel Lake Subcommittee chairman and SRRWD manager, at 373-6686.