In 2018-2019, Crow Wing and Cass Counties, Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), and citizens partnered to develop a comprehensive watershed management plan for the Pine River. This process consisted of:

1) Ten stakeholder meetings that included citizens, businesses, lake associations, state agencies, and local officials.

2) Prioritized water and soil health issues and concerns for the watershed.

3) Developed action items for specific watershed areas.

4) State and local agencies adopted a ten-year watershed conservation plan.

The Lower Hay Lake plan is based on the Pine River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan. The plan characterized Lower Hay Lake as having an improvement in water visibility (water clarity), high sensitivity to phosphorus, and high economic significance to the community. The plan categorized the lake and land as Protection Management. This plan does not address Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) because Counties have their own AIS Plan.