Residents looking to enjoy the lake waters at Nokomis, Calhoun and Harriet will be allowed to launch their boats Thursday.

Beginning at 6 a.m., the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will open its boat launches and will inspect watercraft before they enter the water.

The Park Board continues to inspect all watercraft entering the lakes after it passed a resolution in 2012 aimed at fighting aquatic invasive species.

Its inspection efforts are mostly focused on watercraft entering the lakes via trailers.

Park Board spokeswoman Dawn Sommers said last year's inspectors found numerous zebra mussels on three trailers entering Lake Harriet.

"By catching them, we prevented zebra mussels from entering Lake Harriet," she said. "That's beyond significant."

Boats can launch between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily until Labor Day.

Later in the season, boaters will have to check the Park Board's schedule to ensure they are not locked out.

Between Sept. 2 and Nov. 1, watercraft inspections will end at 8 p.m.

Alejandra matos

Twitter: @amatos12