Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Nancy Miller, 507-280-3590 Toll-free: 1-800-657-3864 Rochester, Minn. - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will host the third annual Celebrate Lake Pepin, a water-quality awareness event, on Sunday, June 3, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Hok-Si-La Park in Lake City, Minn. The celebration is open to the public and there is no charge for admission. This family-friendly event will take place rain or shine. Those attending will have an opportunity to take a tour of Lake Pepin aboard Maggie, an open-air boat captained by Bob Schleicher from Red Wing. Wenonah Canoe will provide free demonstrations of a variety of personal watercraft. Activities on land include a Birds of Prey presentation by the Coulee Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' forestry and archeology hikes around the Hok-Si-La grounds. The event also includes an information fair with booths staffed by local artisans and community leaders, environmental organizations and government agencies. Marien's Deli is the featured food vendor for the event. The Lake Pepin watershed is on the Minnesota list of impaired waters. Pollution concerns include poor water clarity and high nutrient levels. The watershed covers approximately 55 percent of Minnesota's total land area as well as a portion of western Wisconsin, making the Lake Pepin water-quality improvement project the largest project of its kind ever undertaken by the MPCA. The 2007 Celebrate Lake Pepin event coincides with ongoing water-quality data collection and modeling underway in the watershed. The MPCA is working with stakeholders throughout the watershed to complete a water-quality study for Lake Pepin. The study will result in limits on pollutant levels entering the watershed. For more information on water-quality improvement projects, also known as Total Maximum Daily Load studies, visit the MPCA Web site at www.pca.state.mn.us/water/tmdl/index.html. For additional information about the Lake Pepin project visit www.pca.state.mn.us/water/tmdl/tmdl-lakepepin.html. The mission of the MPCA is to work with Minnesotans to protect, conserve and improve our environment and enhance our quality of life. Find out more at www.pca.state.mn.us.