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An effort to improve the water quality in Lake Titloe continues. Gaylord City Council members and Sibley County Commissioners recently heard a presentation about the water quality issues with the lake. Testing by a Minnesota State University - Mankato professor and a few of his students has revealed that the lake’s water is indeed in grave condition.

What are Lake Titloe’s water quality issues? Is there a solution? Dr. Bryce Hoppie, a geologist from Minnesota State University - Mankato (MSU), attempted to answer those questions earlier this month at a City Council meeting.

Hoppie and his MSU students have been conducting water quality tests on the lake for the past year. “Lake Titloe isn’t right,” Hoppie said. At one point in his presentation, Hoppie compared the lake to a wastewater treatment plant.

According to Hoppie, the dark Lake Titloe water has a high algae count. This leads to retarding plants that do not complete a normal life cycle, Hoppie explained.

A healthy lake would have many different types of vegetation and animals, and nutrients would be buried in the bottom of the lake, according to Hoppie. He said the lake is currently loaded with nutrients.

Eutrophic is another word Hoppie used to describe the condition of the lake. This is the process by which a body of water becomes rich in dissolved nutrients and often shallow with a seasonal deficiency in dissolved oxygen.

Organic matter is “robbing the lake of oxygen,” Hoppie explained. The lake’s current oxygen level won’t allow a healthy fish population, he said.

Phosphates, which breed algae, is a major problem in the lake, according to Hoppie. His report indicated that the phosphate level in Lake Titloe is 20 times higher than the normal level.

Hoppie also reported that the lake suffers from a “big mud problem.” He explained that the lake becomes a sediment trap late in the year and that sediment sits until the water is flushed.

Feedlots. A city next to the lake. Septic systems. A shallow lake catching everything flowing east. Hoppie believes these are among the reasons Lake Titloe is filling with mud. He said the lake’s water quality issues have been building for decades and there are multiple factors leading to the problems.

According to Hoppie, Lake Titloe is unable to clean itself and it needs to be flushed more frequently. He reported that the installation of the lake’s dam, completed in 1969, may be a contributing factor in the lake’s water quality downfall.

Hoppie reported that High Island Lake near New Auburn was a clear, shallow lake with walleyes for several hundred years. In 1937, a dam was built on the lake and the water quality has declined, Hoppie explained.

Without a frequent flushing of the lake, a “perfect storm” develops and a cycle keeps feeding the problem, according to Hoppie. Because of the lack of precipitation this summer, Lake Titloe hasn’t been flushed on a regular basis.

If patient, Hoppie believes Lake Titloe’s water quality could be improved in cheap fashion. He said the lake would have to be evacuated (emptied). This would break the cycle which is feeding the lake’s algae problem.

How long would the lake sit empty? That is the “million dollar question,” according to Hoppie. He said the longer the lake sits, the better the situation will become. The lake has huge potential but you must be patient, Hoppie said. Because of the size of Titloe, Hoppie believes dredging the lake would be a problem.

Hoppie and his students will continue to test the Lake Titloe water. These tests are being done at no cost, according to Jim Swanson, chairman of the Lake Titloe committee.

Gaylord’s Lake Titloe committee continues to meet once per month, Swanson explained. He said representatives from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) are planning to attend the committee’s meeting in December.