White Sand Lake Association Annual Letter: May, 2025

Hello White Sand Lake Neighbors,

As another beautiful season begins on White Sand Lake, we’re excited to welcome both longtime residents and new faces to the community. Your White Sand Lake Association (WSLA) board is looking forward to a great year ahead and wants to keep you in the loop on some important projects and events we’ve got planned to help take care of the lake and support our awesome community. Our ongoing goals are: 

1. Monitoring and Treating Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM): Invasive species like milfoil threaten the delicate balance of our lake's ecosystem. Through careful monitoring and strategic treatment efforts, we work tirelessly to combat their spread, ensuring the vitality of our waters. 

2. Monitoring Water Quality: Clean water is essential for the enjoyment of all who call our lake home. Our dedicated team conducts regular assessments to ensure that our water quality meets the highest standards, providing a safe environment for recreation and wildlife alike. Water quality reports are available on the WSLA website. 

3. Holding an Annual Meeting/Social: Our annual gathering isn't just a chance to catch up-it's an opportunity to come together as a community. At this meeting, we share updates on our efforts, discuss important issues facing our lake, and celebrate our shared stewardship. 

4. Monitoring Lake Water Level: Fluctuations in water levels can have significant impacts on our community. By closely monitoring these levels, we can anticipate and address challenges, ensuring the continued resilience of our shoreline and habitats. 

5. Promoting Shoreline Stewardship: Our shoreline is a precious resource that requires careful stewardship. Through education and outreach, we empower residents to take an active role in protecting and enhancing our shoreline for future generations. 

6. Maintaining a Website: Our online platform serves as a valuable resource for information and communication. Here, you can find updates on our projects, resources for lake management, and opportunities for involvement, all at your fingertips. The web address is: www.whitesandlakemn.org 

7. Collecting Dues from Residents: Financial support from our members is vital to the success of our efforts. Your dues help fund critical initiatives such as invasive species treatments, equipment maintenance, water quality testing, and more. We appreciate your continued support in this endeavor. 

8. Board Meetings: Behind the scenes, our dedicated board members volunteer their time to keep our association running smoothly. Through regular meetings, we collaborate on decision-making and planning, ensuring that our efforts are effective and sustainable. 

Eurasian Water Milfoil Update: Monitoring and treating Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM) is very costly. Discovered in 2016, EWM growth in White Sand Lake has varied depending on variables including weather conditions, water levels, water clarity, boat traffic, etc. It is very difficult to predict how much growth of EWM there will be this summer, but one thing is for sure: we will always incur some annual costs if the lake association chooses to stay ahead of the spread. Left unchecked, EWM will spread throughout the lake, killing off native plants and making some forms of lake recreation extremely difficult if not impossible. This has a direct and dramatic effect on your property values! 

Here is a list of what your association has spent treating EWM in each of the past five years: 

2024: $26,407 
2023: $31,336
2022: $8,251
2021: $22,033
2020: $5,121 

As you can see, our costs vary greatly depending on conditions. We have received some grant money, but that varies from year to year as well. The board will continue to explore all grant opportunities.  

Mark your calendars! The annual WSLA meeting will be held on June 23rd at 6:00 PM at Baxter City Hall.
(NOTE: This is one week earlier than originally scheduled)

We’re excited to welcome a special guest speaker, Sara Fogderud, owner of A.W. Research Laboratories, Inc. Sara has been testing water samples from White Sand Lake for many years and will share insights into what she tests for and what the results tell us about the health of our lake. There will also be time for questions, so come ready to learn and engage!

Misc: The association will encourage a July 4th boat parade. This year, it’s back to traveling counter-clockwise or to the west, starting near the boat landing. More information via email will be sent later.

WSLA swag is again available for order!

A donation from the Teehive will be made to the WSLA for every order placed. The store is open now and is accepting orders. There are some really great items on this site, so check it out and get your swag! Thanks, Joel Clough and Justin Heitkamp at the Teehive, for your efforts! Joel, Justin, and their families are current residents on our lake. 

Website Manager Needed: Bill Samardich, who created and has managed our association website, will be stepping down from that role. We’re incredibly grateful for all the work he’s done—thank you, Bill!

Now, we’re looking for someone to take over website maintenance. If you have web skills and are willing to help out, please consider stepping into this role. Bill is happy to assist with the transition, but we do need to fill the position soon.

If you're interested, please send me an email or let me know at the annual meeting. We’d really appreciate your help!

New Water Tester: A big thank-you to Derek Hendrikson for his many years of dedicated water sampling for White Sand Lake. Derek has done an outstanding job, and we’re grateful for his service. We’re pleased to share that Mike Smith will be taking over these responsibilities. Mike will handle monthly water sampling, send the samples to the lab for testing, and monitor water clarity. Thank you, Mike, for stepping up to take on this important role!

Personal Note: As I mentioned in a previous email, I’ll be stepping down as president of the WSLA. I’m committed to making the transition as smooth as possible and will spend whatever time is needed to ensure the new president has everything they need to get started. It’s been an honor to serve as president these past few years, but as I take on other leadership roles, I’ve realized I won’t be able to give this position the time and attention it deserves. That said, I plan to remain involved—either by continuing to serve on the board or helping out however I can moving forward. We’re currently looking for someone to step into my role.

No previous experience is necessary to become president—just a willingness to get involved and help care for the future of our lake. I will help you get started! Current board members and any interested residents are welcome to volunteer. Please consider taking on this important role in our lake community. Your leadership can make a real difference! If you're interested, please reach out to me directly.

Dues: Dues contributions saw a big boost in 2024’ up 49% from the previous year!
We received $20,150 in total (+ $5490 in grant money), compared to $13,500 in 2023 (+ $13,540 in grant money). Contributions came in from 101 of the 148 properties on the lake, which is a 10% increase in participation. That’s fantastic progress—thank you!

Special thanks to one generous lake resident who made an anonymous $2,700 contribution as part of last year’s total. Your support truly makes a difference in what we can accomplish together.

Let’s keep that momentum going so we can stay ahead of challenges like Milfoil. If you haven’t already, please consider making at least a $200 contribution to the association this year. Many of you generously gave that amount—or more—last year, and some have already stepped up for 2025. A big thank-you to everyone who has contributed—your support makes a real difference!

To make payment convenient, memberships can be paid online through our website or mailed to our treasurer. Mailing a check saves the association a few dollars in credit card fees. We kindly ask that dues be paid by our upcoming annual meeting on June 23rd, allowing us to continue our important work without delay. (You may also bring a check to the meeting.) 

We thank you for your continued support and look forward to another successful year of stewardship together! 

Have a great start to your summer and see you at the meeting in June! 

Brian Wallace 

WSLA President