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3.8. Surface Water Resources 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 and 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, Marshan, Peltier, Reshanau, and Rice), Bald Eagle Lake, and two creek reaches (Clearwater and Hardwood) are currently listed on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's 2014 Draft 303d list of impaired waters (Table 4, Figure 12). The eight lakes are listed for nutrient/eutrophication biological indicators affecting aquatic recreation uses, 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 have fish consumption 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 mercury 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. TMDL reports have been written for the eight impaired lakes with nutrient impairments. The Bald Eagle Lake nutrient TMDL was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 11, 2012, and an implementation plan has been completed and approved by the MPCA. The public comment period for the TMDL reports for the other seven lakes ended on February 29, 2012. The TMDLs for these lakes were approved by the EPA in September of 2013. The implementation plans for two separate TMDL reports were drafted for these lakes: Peltier Lake and Centerville Lake TMDL, and Lino Lakes Chain of Lakes Nutrient TMDL. The TMDL for the Clearwater Creek impairment 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 EPA 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 for 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 Vadnais Lakes Area WMO TMDL and Protection Study. The City of Lino Lakes received wasteload allocations (WLA) for one or more of the TMDLs listed below (Figure 11). The WLAs were approved by the EPA; the City has demonstrated progress towards meeting the WLAs. The MPCA has reissued the General Permit for Small MS4s, which identified the process for demonstrating progress towards meeting the WLA. City of Lino Lakes SWMP 1 December 20151 24