Plan to Save Algae-Plagued Little Rock Lake

RICE  (AP) -- A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources plan to save an algae-plagued lake near St. Cloud has drawn both optimism and opposition.

the agency plans to drop Little Rock Lake's level by 3 feet over three days on Aug. 1. The gates of the Sartell dam will be opened downstream on the Mississippi River.

Volunteers will plant in the hundreds of feet of mud beds uncovered in the shallower parts of the lake once levels drop.

Supporters of the drawdown say farmers in the watershed have made strides in controlling pollution.

Resident Bill Davison and others near the lake would've preferred a different option. Davison says river residents felt shutout of the drawdown decision.

The department will raise the water back to normal levels after six weeks.