Water quality is a year-round committment

Though construction work often hibernates until spring, the cycle of planning and project implementation continues year-round at the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.

The MCWD is preparing to put a variety of projects in the ground all across the 181-square-mile watershed in 2012. The projects involve a diverse group of governmental, business community and citizen partners and will achieve a variety of exciting community and environmental goals.

A prime example is a continuing restoration project along Minnehaha Creek in St. Louis Park where decades of industrial use have resulted in filled wetlands and a straightened channel, allowing more polluted runoff to reach the creek.

Following a successful restoration of the creek behind Methodist Hospital, where the creek’s natural curves and surrounding wetlands were reestablished, the District is extending the re-meander upstream to restore more than 3,000 additional feet of creek. The project will increase the amount of shoreline, add critical in-stream habitat, stabilize the banks to reduce erosion and reconnect the creek with its historical floodplain wetlands. The MCWD is also helping the city secure funding for a walking trail that will improve access to the creek and connect Methodist Hospital to the Southwest Cedar Regional Trial.

In Edina, Minnehaha Creek flows through a residential neighborhood where manicured lawns allow unfiltered stormwater to flow directly into the creek. Here the MCWD is working with homeowners to install attractive shoreline plantings that will slow and filter runoff, stabilize the creek banks and provide valuable habitat for wildlife. The District is funding these improvements to demonstrate how natural buffers that improve water quality can be attractive additions to residential and commercial landscapes.

In Plymouth, the MCWD will undertake a restoration project designed to improve water quality in Gleason Lake. The project will restore an eroded stream channel in the Chelsea Woods neighborhood and add plants to stabilize the stream bank, filter pollutants and restore and preserve the natural character of the stream. These improvements will reduce erosion by slowing the rate of flow through the channel, filter runoff entering the creek and improve the quality of water flowing into Gleason Lake. The restored natural area will also be an amenity for the neighborhood.

The MCWD has a history of testing innovative techniques for clean water that others can follow. In Minnetrista, the District will use an innovative approach developed at the University of Minnesota to combat high concentrations of phosphorus in Dutch Lake.

To reduce the amount of soluble phosphorus in the water – dissolved phosphorus that is hard to capture and remove – the project will use a sand/iron filing filter in a nutrient laden stream that flows into the lake. The iron filings will react with the soluble phosphorus and remove it, improving water quality in both Dutch Lake and downstream wetlands.

These projects are just a sample of the initiatives the MCWD is involved in to improve and protect water quality across the watershed. Additional projects not mentioned here are identified in the District’s 10-year Comprehensive Plan and can be viewed on the MCWD website at www.minnehahacreek.org.