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City of Lino Lakes SWMP | February 8, 2013 Draft | 23 3.8. Surface W ater R esource s Open water features are a significant land cover type in the City, totaling over 3,000 acres, or roughly 14% of the surface area. The largest portion of this cover type (96%) is represented by the large, natural ice block lakes forming the Chain of Lakes a nd other outlier lakes, along with smaller natural ponds. A number of streams and creeks also flow through the City. Within the municipal boundary of the City of Lino Lakes, seven lakes within the Chain of Lakes (Baldwin, Centerville, George Watch, Marsh an, Peltier, Reshanau, and Rice), Bald Eagle Lake, and two creek reaches (Clearwater and Hardwood) are currently listed on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s 2010 Draft 303d list of impaired waters (Table 4 , Figure 11 ). The eight lakes are listed for nutrient/eutrophication biological indicators affecting aquatic recreation u ses, Clearwater and Hardwood Creeks are listed for fish and/or aquatic macroinvertebrate bioassessments affecting aquatic life, and Hardwood Creek is also listed for dissolved oxygen affecting aquatic life. There are also three lakes that h ave fish consump tion impairments due to high mercury concentrations in fish : Peltier Lake, Otter Lake, and Bald Eagle Lake . In 2009, the MPCA completed a plan to address this mercury impairment. With substantial stakeholder input, the MPCA prepared a plan to reduce mercur y releases in Minnesota. This plan, the Implementation Plan for Minnesota’s Statewide Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load , describes actions Minnesota will take to meet water -quality standards for mercury. Draft TMDL reports have been written for the eight impaired lakes with nutrient impairments. The public comment period for the Bald Eagle Lake TMDL ended on March 30, 2011; it has not yet been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The publ ic comment period for the TMDL reports for the other seven lakes is from January 30, 2012 through February 29, 2012 . The implementation plans for these impairments will be completed after the EPA approves the TMDLs. The TMDL for the Clearwater Creek impa irment has not yet been started. It will be part of a future Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan, to be completed by the MPCA in conjunction with local partners. The TMDL for the two impairments on Hardwood Creek is complete and was approved by the E PA on July 10, 2009 (Hardwood Creek Impaired Biota (Fish) and Dissolved Oxygen TMDL can be found on MPCA’s website ). The implementation plan for these two impairments is also complete and was approved by the MPCA in 2009. There is a TMDL study under way f or bacteria (E. coli and fecal coliform) impairments along portions of the Upper Mississippi River and its tributaries, including Rice Creek. Lino Lakes will be part of that TMDL study. There is also a TMDL underway for Wilkinson Lake as part of the Vadn ais Lakes Area WMO TMDL and Protection Study. The City of Lino Lakes will receive wasteload allocations (WLA) for one or more of the TMDLs listed above. When the WLAs are approved by the EPA, the City will need to demonstrate progress towards meeting the WLAs. The MPCA is in the process of reissuing the General Permit for Small MS4s, which will identify the process for demonstrating progress towards meeting a WLA. Approximate City of Lino Lakes Boundary