Laura Hagstrom, Pete Sarberg, Tim Schoonhoven, Tim Bayerl, and Sarah Koep from Widseth’s Alexandria office made the most of a recent beautiful June evening and set out to work in their kayaks and canoes. As members of and technical advisors to Alexandria’s Stormwater Management Committee, occasional field trips are necessary to get a firsthand look at how waterways in the area are performing. This June evening found them on Lake Connie in the heart of Alexandria. While touring they are taking note of things like water clarity, aquatic plants, buffers, and the general condition of the lake. This helps them get a feel for how filtration systems, both natural and man-made, are functioning.
Laura explained, “We toured Lake Connie with the Alexandria Stormwater Management Committee. We chose this lake because it plays a vital role in regard to water quality within the City of Alex, as a very large watershed is tributary to it. There are also two storm drain pipes connected to the lake (one in, one out) that we wanted to analyze from the lake. We noticed that the water clarity on the upstream end was worse than the downstream end, which means the lake is doing a great job!”