Barley Straw in Storm Water Ponds
Rice Lake Barley Straw Project
To Improve our lake one step at a time!
Barley Straw Project on Rice Lake (July 2008)

This project consists of installing pelleted barley straw in plastic sacks anchored down in the storm water ponds. The objective is for the barley straw to absorb the nutrients (phosphorous) and help stem the production of algae, which eventually will flow into the lake.

This project is experimental in nature for Rice Lake, but is has seen success in other ponds and lakes throughout the world. This practice is more common among smaller water bodies, like streams and ponds. It would take a tremendous amount of barley straw to install throughout the entire lake (well over $30,000 worth).

The goal of this project is to see if filtering water before it enters the lake improves the overall quality of the lake water.
Last Updated 11/27/2008
Number of visitors since 11/27/2008
October 2008 - Stakes were removed from the 2 ponds for the winter while the remainder of the barley straw was left in the water.
Visual observations of the water seem to indicate an improvement since the time the application was placed in the ponds.
Formal results will be calculated at a later time.

Thanks to the City of Maple Grove for helping monitor these ponds as well as assisting with lake improvement project funding through the Lake Quality Commission.