Lake Hiawatha

For place in New Jersey, see Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey.
Lake Hiawatha

Lake Hiawatha in July 2010
Location Minneapolis, Minnesota,
United States
Coordinates 44°55′15″N 093°14′11″W / 44.92083°N 93.23639°W / 44.92083; -93.23639Coordinates: 44°55′15″N 093°14′11″W / 44.92083°N 93.23639°W / 44.92083; -93.23639
Primary inflows Minnehaha Creek
Primary outflows Minnehaha Creek
Basin countries United States
Surface area 53.5 acres (217,000 m2)
Max. depth 33 ft (10 m)
Surface elevation 814 ft (248 m)
Frozen winter
"Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project. This project establishes a 'buffer zone' between land and water using native plants. Buffer zones benefit aquatic systems in many ways: provide food, shelter, and nesting sites for fish and wildlife; control shoreline erosion; protect water quality by intercepting nutrients; stabilize lake bottom sediment. This project was partially funded by the Shoreline Habitat Program, Division of Fisheries, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources."
Lake Hiawatha from the playground on its eastern shore.

Lake Hiawatha is located just north of Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was purchased by the Minneapolis park system in 1922 for $550,000. At that time the lake was a marsh known as Rice Lake, but over four years, the park system transformed the wetland into a lake surrounded by a park.

Recreation

The lake and park have a fishing dock, wading pool, tennis courts, softball diamonds. There is a recreation center that hosts activities. The lake borders a municipal golf course. In the winter the park sets up ice and hockey rinks. There is a bike and walking path starting at Lake Hiawatha which veers onto Lake Nokomis or winds down the Minnehaha Creek right to the mouth of the Minnehaha Falls.

Lake Hiawatha is one of the few lakes through which the Minnehaha Creek flows, and the last one before it reaches Minnehaha Falls and then the Mississippi River.

Fish

The lake contains black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin, carp, golden shiner, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch.[1] Some fish consumption guideline restrictions have been placed on the lake's bluegill and northern pike due to mercury and/or PCB contamination.[1]

Water quality

Lake Hiawatha has much more garbage than any other Minneapolis lake. The lake is a stormwater outlet for the Corcoran, Central, Bryant, and Northrop neighborhoods, as well as the park's golf course.[2]

The Lake Hiawatha beach has been occasionally closed, such as in August 2014, because of unsafe levels of E. coli.[3]

Lake Hiawatha has been officially declared infested by zebra mussels since 2010, and in September 2013 park workers began finding mussels.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Lake information report: Minnesota DNR". MN DNR. MN DNR. 2007-06-18.
  2. ↑ Dupuy, Beatrice (July 11, 2015). "1,500 pounds of trash later, man's quest to keep Minneapolis lake clean continues". Minneapolis Star Tribune. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Popular beaches in Minneapolis closed due to E. coli levels". CBS Minnesota. August 5, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ McAuliffe, Bill (September 6, 2013). "Zebra mussels found in Lake Hiawatha". Minneapolis Star Tribune. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
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