Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Douglas County approves 2026 AIS work plan; officials confirm zebra mussel detection in Union Lake
Summary
County staff presented the 2026 aquatic invasive species work plan and budget and the board approved the plan and a plant-survey contract with Blue Water Science; staff reported zebra mussels were confirmed in Union Lake and highlighted monitoring and education achievements from 2025.
Douglas County officials approved the county's 2026 aquatic invasive species (AIS) work plan and associated budget and authorized a contract with Blue Water Science to conduct early detection plant surveys.
Justin Schwarz, county AIS coordinator, told the board that the county's prevention work in 2025 included 11 seasonal inspectors, about 6,800 watercraft inspections, roughly 150 decontaminations, and outreach through tool stations and volunteer events. He said volunteers and staff monitor lakes for early detections; last August the county's monitoring found zebra mussels on a settlement plate at Union Lake, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources later confirmed zebra mussels there.
Schwarz reviewed monitoring and management priorities for 2026, including rotating aquatic plant surveys, targeted control where eradication is feasible (for example, flowering rush in Grants Lake), and prioritizing funding toward populations where substantial reduction or eradication is possible in case state funding is reduced. Staff noted the state has allocated $10 million to counties for AIS work; if that program is cut or reduced, local grant priorities would be adjusted.
The board approved the 2026 AIS work plan and budget and separately approved contracts with Blue Water Science for plant surveys of prioritized lakes; the county will cost-share Lake Reno surveys 50/50 with neighboring Pope County because it is a border water.
Commissioners emphasized site-level safety at accesses and asked staff to keep contingency reserves for rapid response to new detections. "We're trying to keep residual funds for a rapid response," the staff member said, citing previous work on signal crayfish and other detections.
The county's AIS program also funds management grants to lake associations and maintains web-based survey results for public access. The board's approval clears the way for 2026 monitoring and for early-season plant surveys typically conducted in late June.
