![Milfoil floats on Lake Minnetonka. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com Tuesday, July 21, 2015 Life's A Beach Shoreline Services crew cleaned lake weeds including milfoil for a customer who lives on Lake Minnetonka.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/UZBDWD7JVJVDADY5XUIZ7KBLOU.jpg?&w=1080)
It just didn't add up to Anoka County Commissioner Julie Braastad.
The state will give Anoka County $135,000 to combat Eurasian milfoil and other aquatic invasive species mucking up area lakes, but just $10,000 of that was initially budgeted for a grant program that could be used for actual treatment costs.
The rest was to be spent on education efforts, including signs and seasonal workers talking with boaters at area launches.
"An ounce of prevention" is a laudable goal, but many of Anoka County's lakes are already infected and need costly treatments each year, reasoned Braastad.
Braastad convinced her colleagues on the County Board to increase the amount used for treatments to $24,000. That's enough for each of eight major lakes in the county to receive $3,000. The money will be administered through a county grant program and treatments will need to be near either a public boat launch, swimming area or fishing pier.
"Prevention, education and treatment — we have to do it all," Braastad said. "We will give it to the lake associations and they can use it how they want."
Braastad said she's not dismissing the value of education. She's simply striking a better balance.
"I do believe in the education part of it. If we don't learn what we are doing wrong, it will never improve and we'll infect more lakes," Braastad said. "And there are some of our lakes that don't have all the aquatic invasive species."
