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Rice Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District:
The Facts on Management Planning

Why a New Management Plan?
The Rice Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District is charged with managing Rice Lake. To date, most of the District’s efforts have focused on weed harvesting. Many areas of Rice Lake are relatively shallow and would be impaired by curly-leaf pondweed, an exotic invasive plant that becomes prevalent throughout the lake if left unchecked. This harvest is permitted annually through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) under a Lake Management Plan developed and in use since 1994.

Why a New Plan?

• The current plan is 14 years old and outdated.
• Technology and techniques for controlling curly-leaf pondweed have been improved since the last plan was implemented.
• The 1994 plan and current harvesting is increasingly at odds with WDNR philosophies, making obtaining the annual harvest permit and meeting permit requirements increasingly difficult.
• WDNR has a new Aquatic Plant Management Strategy that does not allow for the harvest of native aquatic vegetation unless “Impairment of Navigation” and/or “Nuisance Conditions” are adequately documented.
• Individual harvest permits for native species will not be issued after January 1, 2009, unless they are condoned under the auspices of an approved management plan.
• Sources and methods of controlling phosphorus fertilizer that washes into Rice Lake from the rivers, storm sewers, and shorelines were not being addressed.
  An updated and approved plan will make the District eligible for future WDNR Lake
• Grants for control of the curly-leaf pondweed.
  An updated Management Plan will improve the health of Rice Lake, which is a valuable resource to the Rice Lake area and the State.

The Plan: Rice Lake Management Plan Components

1. Identification of problems and threats
2. Description of historical control actions
3. Characterization of the aquatic ecosystem
4. Assessment of fisheries, wildlife, and aquatic plants
5. Identification of protection and/or enhancement needs for natural resources
6. Definition of management objectives
7. Identification of target levels for aquatic plant control
8. Identification of all possible management alternatives
9. Feasibility factors for all possible management alternatives
10. Management recommendations based on feasibility, need, and benefits
11. Definition of potential adverse impacts
12. Development of a prevention and rapid response plan for new or future Aquatic Invasive Species
13. Monitoring and evaluation recom¬mendations for current and long-term management activities

For more inforamtion see the Approved Aquatic Plant Management Plan