Lake Health/Weeds
2025 Fundraising
Campaign
We need to raise $10,000 between now and July 1st for our scheduled lake wide weed treatment! We have contracted with a weed removal company to mechanically remove weeds on Upper Twin in late June.
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Click the button to pay electronically with PayPal. Other options for payment include attending a meeting / event with your payment or dropping off or mailing a check made out to Twin Lake Association to our Treasurer Tim Sullivan at: 5247 Twin Lake Blvd E, Brooklyn Center, MN 55429.
Excessive weed growth is taking a serious toll on our lakes—clogging swimming areas, tangling boat motors, and making it harder to enjoy the water we love. It’s also harming fish and bird populations and threatening our home values. Weed treatment is essential to protect our lake, our property, and our way of life—but it’s not free. That’s why we’re asking for your support. If every lakeshore homeowner contributes, we can restore the health and beauty of Upper Twin Lake for everyone to enjoy.
We urgently need to raise funds for the June 2025 lake wide mechanical weed treatment.
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​1. Membership Growth - We need to increase the number of paying members in our Association. Every homeowner is impacted by excessive weeds and will benefit from the treatment. If you haven't joined yet, please do and help us spread the word to friends, neighbors, and fellow lake users to join!
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2. Donations - We need donations from homeowners, community members, local businesses and frequent lake visitors in any amount. If every house on Upper Twin donated $200, we will have enough to pay the $8,000-10,000 cost of removal.
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REMEMBER! The Association is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization which means your dues and voluntary donations may be tax deductible. Also, if you work for a company that matches charitable donations, please consider requesting a match for our Association!
2024
Weed Removal
Explore our comprehensive maps detailing our lake weeds management strategy.
The first map illustrates the route we’ll be taking to cut the lake weeds. The second map provides an in-depth view of the same areas, highlighting the depth from the surface to the plants, filamentous floating algae, and weed growth. We have delineated 42.63 acres, which is about 34% of the lake's littoral area. Additionally, filamentous floating algae is shown as an overlay with red squares.
Before and After Images of Weed Removal Efforts to Date
Discover the transformation brought our weed removal efforts so far. Witness the beauty of our community with stunning before and after photos showcasing the remarkable changes. Scroll through the gallery and be amazed by the results.
2025 Lake Mgmt Plan
Upper Twin has been experiencing yearly heavy growth of native (non-invasive) submersed weeds including Coontail Pondweed, Sago Grass, Duckweed, Filamentous Algae, and Northern Watermilfoil which severely limit boating, swimming and kayaking. We can apply for a permit anytime prior to August 1, 2025 to treat the native weeds. The application cost is $2,500 to treat 20+ acres. The next step is hiring a licensed plant surveyor to perform a site inspection which costs $1,500-$2,500. The DNR will review the survey and issue a permit that identifies the areas and total acreage we can treat under the permit. We then hire a licensed company to perform mechanical control (cut or push weeds with equipment and remove & dispose on non-residential land areas). Mechanical control may need to be done twice a year to be effective. The estimated cost for the first round of mechanical treatment which we have scheduled for June 2025 will be $8,000-$10,000.
The only prohibited invasive plant species we currently have on any of our lakes is Curlyleaf Pondweed. It is a fast growing species and unlike other plants it grows better in cold water and low light than any other plant. It emerges in early Spring and begins to die by mid-July. At full size, it can reach up to 15' and create dense mats that interfere with aquatic, recreational and fishing activities. The treatment is broad spectrum meaning it will kill all weeds it comes into contact with. However, the DNR only approves the treatment of Curlyleaf is early Spring before any other weeds have emerged which means the treatment has a limited effect on native weeds which grow in June or later. The Association intends to apply for a grant request on behalf of Upper and Middle for Curlyleaf Pondweed treatment from the 2026 Aquatic Invasive Species Control Grant Program. If we receive a grant that covers the cost of Curlyleaf, we will have to pay for treatment from Association funds and wait for reimbursement. However, once we are reimbursed we can use Association funds to treat native (non-invasive) weeds that emerge in June 2026.
Weed Treatment History
2025 Curlyleaf Pondweed 18.6 acres | Cost: $7,100.00
2024 Association Bought an Aquatic Weed Cutter and volunteers cut 42 acres of the lake.
2024 Hired Premier Weed Removal to remove weeds around Upper lake. Cost $7,200.00
2024 Curlyleaf Pondweed 18 acres.
2023 Negotiated a discounted rate for homeowners to purchase and apply Hydrothol on their shorelines.
2022 Curlyleaf Pondweed 16.2 acres Upper | Cost: $5,834
2020 Cattails & Waterlilies in Upper / Middle Channel | Cost $291
2017 Curlyleaf Pondweed 13.8 acres Upper | Cost: $3,568.72
2015 Curlyleaf Pondweed 12 acres Upper | Cost: $4,032
2012 Eurasian Milfoil 23.8 acres Upper | Cost $4,062.30
How to Treat
Your
Shoreline
Under Minnesota law, aquatic plants growing in public waters are the property of the state.
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A permit is NOT needed as a property owner to create or maintain a swimming or boat docking area if you follow certain rules:
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You clear no more than a 2,500 sf area (50' wide by 50' deep).
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You clear a boat channel no more than 15 ft wide as long as necessary to reach open water. If you are clearing lilypads, you may use mechanical means.
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You cut or pull the weeds by hand or with hand operated or powered tools.
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You must dispose of all weeds you cut or pull on land either on your own property or elsewhere. If you transport it, you need to download this form.
A permit is REQUIRED as a property owner to do the following:
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Apply herbicides or algecides in any amount.
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Destroy emergent vegetation (cattails, lilypads).
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Use automated mechanical plant control devices.
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Use a hydrolic jet (e.g. aqua-thruster) that disturbs the lake bottom. You may only use one of these without a permit IF it is set near the water surface to blow away surface debris and algae.
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Use a lake bottom barrier / weed mat to prevent or destroy growth.
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Remove aquatic plants where they do NOT interfere with swimming, boating or other recreation.
Why We Have Weed Growth
Lakes undergo a natural aging process by which, over thousands of years, they slowly fill up with sediment. This sediment is primarily decayed plant and animal matter and eroded soil that has washed in from the surrounding land. The sediment also contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous. As the sediment builds up, the bottom sediments become more fertile, and conditions in the lake become more favorable for aquatic plant growth.
Like their land-based cousins, aquatic plants need sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and nutrients-including phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium to grow. The watershed is the primary source of nutrients. Northern Minnesota lakes typically have few aquatic plants because the watershed is low in phosphorous and nitrogen. In central and southern Minnesota, where the soils are naturally more fertile, more nitrogen and phosphorous enter lakes from the watershed, so these nutrient-rich lakes tend to have more aquatic plants and algae.
During periods of heavy rainfall, increased runoff brings more nutrients into a lake. These additional nutrients may be released from flooded soils or carried into the lake on silt or clay particles. Excess nutrients often boost plant growth, particularly algae or free-floating aquatic plants. If rainfall and water levels are normal, nutrient levels and plant growth tend to remain stable. Conversely, low water levels can promote plant growth, particularly that of rooted plants, by expanding the shallow-water areas available for growth.
Intense cultivation or land development near a lake can also increase the amount of aquatic plants by increasing the amount of nutrients flowing from the watershed into the water. Houses, paved driveways, and other hard surfaces adds to the amount of nutrient-rich runoff that flows into lakes and streams. For all of these reasons, lakes and ponds that did not support a dense growth of aquatic plants in their natural state may show increased growth because of human activities. Reduce phosphorus pollution to protect our lakes by only using phosphorus-free lawn fertilizer!!