WCOLA CALENDAR:
May 14th– Roadside garbage pickup
May 17th – WCOLA Spring Social- Camp Fire’s Blue Water Camp (John Latimer speaker)
July 4th – Boat Parade on Wabana Lake
August 2nd– WCOLA picnic @ the Wabana Town Hall
September 10th– Roadside garbage pickup
*WCOLA meets the second Monday of the Month at 4pm. Join us!
WCOLA Spring Social featuring John Latimer
WCOLA SPRING SOCIAL will be on Saturday, May 17th from 4-7pm at Camp Fire’s Bluewater Camp.
John Latimer, local phenologist, will be our guest speaker. You may remember John from his Wabana postal route days, or from his popular phenology report on KAXE/KBXE. John is an expert on what we see in our local environment. He will talk about our lakes and the critters that depend on them.
The WCOLA social is FREE and All Wabana Residents are welcome! Bring your own beverage & an appetizer to share. WCOLA will provide the main dish.
LOCATION: Camp Fire’s Camp Bluewater
37508 Bluewater Road, Grand Rapids, MN 55744
If you have questions, contact Lynne at setofsteins@msn.com
Summer Store is now open!
WCOLA Members,
The store will remain open for a limited time and then be closed until next Spring. Orders will be accepted up to May 16, 2025. Shipments will arrive a few weeks later.
Shipments can be sent directly to your home for a small S&H fee, or WCOLA will arrange a free pick up date at Wabana Town Hall.
Check out the store here: https://wcolasummer2025.itemorder.com/
Wabana Township, Minnesota Comprehensive Plan 2020 Our Township. Our Future.
Here are the results of the 2020 Lake water sampling.
Little-Wabana-Lake_2020 Update
Below are the 2020 ice on dates for the chain of lakes.
Little Wabana – December 1
Little Trout – December 2
Wabana – December 2
Bluewater – December 5
Big Trout – December 6MN DNR Fish Management Reports
Bluewater 2016
WabanaLMP2016
Trout-410 LMP 2016
An announcement from Minnesota Lakes and Rivers regarding Boaters Certification.
See our Membership and Meeting Notes below.
Dr.John Downing, PhD in Limnology, gave a presentation on the health of our lakes at the annual meeting. Here is a copy of the presentation for those that couldn’t make the meeting.
The new Itasca County Shoreland Guide to Lake Stewardship is an outgrowth of Itasca Waters a non-profit organization. Listening to what the community wanted, the guide was created as a collaboration of many agencies, non-profits, foundations, business and individuals sharing their knowledge, information, resources, creativity and artistry. The Guide serves as resource of all of the information on shorelands in one place with web access.
The Guide is in print booklet form as well as accessible online at ItascaWaters.org and has clickable links. The content of the Guide explains; Watersheds: Keeping Our Lakes Healthy, Curb Pollution: – Reduce Phosphorus and Pollutants – Manage Waste Properly – Inspect and Maintain Your Septic System, Reduce Runoff – Preserve or Restore Natural Shoreline – Curb Erosion – Capture and Cleanse Runoff – Rainwater, Working Around Wetlands, Stop Spread of Aquatic Invasive Species, Watershed Stewardship – Beyond the Shoreland Zone – Forest Management & Land Conservation – Itasca Waters & ICOLA, What Can I Do On My Shoreland Property? – What Permits Are Required, Itasca County Shoreland Permit Requirements. Itasca County Shoreland Checklist & Important Resources, Frequent Contact Information: Itasca County.
Itasca Waters non-profit membership form is included in the Guide. Contact Itasca Waters.org or you can also look for links at the Wabana Chain of Lakes website, WCOLA.org.
Take a look! The trend analysis and report is complete and published. RMB Labs has prepared the following summary reports on each of the Wabana Chain of Lakes using much of the data WCOLA provided along with data from the MPCA. Our secchi readings started in 1975 on Wabana while the 11 sets of chemical readings began in 1991. Not all of the lakes had a complete set of readings which inhibits the trend analysis. WCOLA has the much more in-depth analysis and reports plus the raw data on file should anyone want to review it.
Here is how we plan to keep our lakes beautiful: