The City’s pond treatment program exists to provide residents an avenue to request the City to manage nuisance aquatic vegetation and algae. The program requires participation and commitments by the majority of property owners surrounding a respective pond. A pond that has never been a part of the program must be evaluated for a growing season before being considered for inclusion within the program.
For more information on the Pond Treatment Program, please contact the City’s Water Resources Specialist:
Jack Distel
952-563-8748
jdistel@BloomingtonMN.gov
Restrictions on Public Waters
Under Minnesota law, aquatic plants growing in public waters are the property of the state. Because of their value to the lake ecosystem, they may not be destroyed or transplanted except under specific circumstances, as described in the MN DNR’s Aquatic Plant Management Program.
Cost share program participation requirements
The full City policy can be found in the following document:
Wetland Vegetation Treatment Policy.pdf
To summarize the Wetland Vegetation Treatment Policy, the City will pay for the cost of herbicide application and will coordinate the application of herbicide in ponds according to the following schedule:
- If less than 50% of the abutting owners commit to on-site mitigation, the City will not treat the pond.
- When more than 50%, but less than 100%, of the abutting property owners commit to on-site mitigation, the City will pay half the cost.
- When 100% of the abutting property owners commit to on-site mitigation, the City will pay the total cost of treatment.
Petition Process
It is the responsibility of local residents to secure commitments from the respective property owners of a specific pond. It may be helpful for petitioning property owners to elect a representative of their choosing who will organize the petition process and will serve as the main contact for the City. An online petition form must be signed and submitted by more than 50% of property owners before July 15th for a pond to be considered. Signatures do not carry over into following years. Residents may contact the City, using the contact information above, to receive an update on which properties have or have not submitted a petition.
Following the submission of a petition, a confirmation email will be sent to all participating property owners. For petitions with commitments made by more than 50% of property owners, a subsequent inspection of onsite mitigation practices will be carried out by City staff. The results of that inspection will inform on the cost share schedule, described above. All participating residents will be notified on the results.
It is the responsibility of the residents to secure any match funding required by the application process. Click the following link to access the petition form.
Compliance Requirements to Onsite Mitigation
The requirements to achieve onsite mitigation requirements are described in the following document:
Compliance Requirements Document.pdf
