If you like to swim, try the beaches on Lake Ripley in Litchfield or Belle Lake in McLeod County’s Piepenberg Park. Both feature ample sand and clean water.

But you’ll want to think twice before diving into Cedar Lake or Greenleaf Lake. Those two lakes are polluted and have been deemed “unsuitable for swimming” by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

With similar caution, you might want to limit the number of walleye you eat from McLeod and Meeker County lakes. Their mercury content might endanger your health.

Making sense of all this information is the goal of www.checkmylake.org [1], a Web site that’s easy to use and chock-full of helpful information. The site is operated by the nonprofit Conservation Minnesota, which gets its information from the Pollution Control folks. Conservation Minnesota translates the information into language all of us can understand.

The site exposes stunning truths about our lakes. Only one of five Minnesota lakes have been tested, and of those that have been tested, nearly half are polluted. Almost half of Minnesota’s impaired lakes and streams are that way because of mercury pollution. Mercury comes from a number of sources, particularly coal-fired electrical generating plants.

What you can eat, and shouldn’t eat
Because of mercury, the Minnesota Department of Health advises pregnant women and children age 15 or younger to limit the number of fish they eat to one meal a week. That doesn’t mean our two counties’ lakes are any worse than any other area lake. Fish in all Minnesota lakes and streams that have been tested contain mercury.

Because of these findings, pregnant women, those who plan to become pregnant and children age 15 or younger are advised to limit their consumption of sunfish, crappie, yellow perch and bullheads to one meal a week. The safe-eating guideline is once a month if they’re eating walleyes shorter than 20 inches, northern pike shorter than 30 inches, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish, white sucker, drum, burbot, sauger, carp, lake trout, white bass, rock bass, whitefish and other species. The same group of people is advised to eat absolutely no walleyes larger than 20 inches, northern pike longer than 30 inches, and muskellunge.

For men and women not planning to be pregnant, the safe-eating guideline is one meal a week for walleyes, northern pike, small-mouth bass, largemouth bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish, white sucker, drum, burbot, sauger, carp, lake trout, white bass, rock bass, whitefish and other species. They can eat unlimited amounts of sunfish, crappie, yellow perch and bullheads.

What the state is doing
Information including fish-consumption guidelines have attracted widespread attention from citizens, who have pressured state lawmakers to take steps to reduce mercury pollution. And they have. Conservation Minnesota claims we now have some of the strongest mercury-free product legislation in the country.

But mercury isn’t the only enemy. For swimmers and other lake recreationists, it’s phosphorous or nitrogen, which come from sewage, fertilizers, animal waste and other sources. The results are excessive algae, plant growth or even slime in our lakes.

Minnesotans are proud of their lakes and streams, but they aren’t happy with the results of lake water-quality tests. In response, many groups have worked with the Legislature to propose a state constitutional amendment that would spend one-third of its annual $270 million revenue to clean up Minnesota’s lakes and streams. But first, voters must say “yes” to the amendment, which calls for an additional three-eighths of a cent sales tax, at the Nov. 4 general election.

No doubt, we’ll hear a great deal about that amendment — both pro and con — during the coming months.

Editorials are written by Publisher Matt McMillan and Editor Doug Hanneman. They can be reached at mcmillan@hutchinsonleader.com [3], or hanneman@hutchinsonleader.com [4].