09-02-2025
Round Lake Beach grand ‘reopening' party is June 9
If you go
What: Round Lake Reopening Party
When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 9 (lifeguards on duty until 7 p.m.)
Where: Round Lake beach
Hours will be: 1-4 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday
More: Beth Witt, aquatics and fitness coordinator said, 'There will be T-shirt tie dying from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The first 150 kids will receive a free shirt, and kids are also welcome to bring their own.' Mayor Phil Young is set to serve root beer floats, and Bob and the Beachcombers will provide entertainment from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. All families may enter to win a $250 'bucket of summer fun;' participants must be present to 952-949-8447.
By Sarah Schewe
What had been one of Eden Prairie's most popular beaches has been off limits to swimmers for about three years. But Round Lake beach will be reopening for swimming on Saturday, June 9.
After closing early for several summers, Eden Prairie ended swimming following the 2003 season so the city could address water quality concerns, exotic weed species and an imbalanced fish population.
Reopening was put off while the city mounted a comprehensive clean-up and remediation program led by Steve McComas, 'the Lake Detective.' McComas has worked on lakes throughout the state and has been implementing strategies to improve water quality at Round Lake. According to McComas, 'Every city with lakes is dealing with this right now.'
No residents had become sick from using the lake, but there were health and lake quality concerns, including fecal contamination from geese, algal blooms and exotic weed species.
Leslie Stovring, environmental coordinator for the city, noted that usage of the lake had been dropping. Stovring said the city has spent $17,000 on Round Lake this year and $25,000 on improving water quality last year. The city's efforts have made the lake safe, but, Stovring said, 'If you're expecting clear blue water with a sandy bottom, [Round Lake is] not going to be the one to go to. It's a lake, not a pool.'
Sue Weyrauch, an Eden Prairie resident, remembers enjoying Round Lake with her nephews before its closure, but also said, 'I just don't know if they've found a permanent solution … If the geese end up being a problem again, I'm not sure how many times they should try and reopen; at some point maybe it's better off as a geese habitat.'
Geese are not the only contributor to fecal coliform levels. Round Lake has the least surface area of the 12 lakes measured in Eden Prairie's Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District, and is 10th in terms of volume. The mean depth of the lake is just 11 feet. The shallowness in addition to other factors, including human diapers, contributed to the high bacterial counts that led to the closing.
Unlike fecal coliform, algal bloom poses no health threats, but as Steve McComas explained, 'When the algae is too thick it's not a pleasant swimming experience.' The excessive algal bloom had likely contributed to the decline in Round Lake's use. Algal bloom is caused by high phosphorous levels in lakes, often the result of fertilizer from surrounding lawns that leaches into the lake. To reduce the algal bloom, the city is upgrading and adding to its storm water ponds, and installing barley straw to naturally repress phosphorus. McComas hopes there will be an overall 50 percent reduction before the water drains into Round Lake.
To keep Round Lake usable, park users should be mindful of their actions: by picking up pet droppings, pet owners help prevent feces from washing into the lake; park users should not feed geese to avoid attracting birds to the area; trash can also be a meal for birds, so picking up litter is important; finally, parents should make sure children using diapers are appropriately outfitted with swim diapers to keep feces from contaminating the lake. As Stovring said, 'Round Lake is an important feature in our city, so we definitely want to do what we can to keep it clean.'
Sarah Schewe is an intern with the .
