St. Croix River Escarpment Gully Stabilization Implementation Program

In 2011, the Chisago Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) received a Clean Water Fund (CWF) grant to inventory active gully erosion sites along the St. Croix River from the Wild River State Park entrance south to the Chisago/Washington county line. This inventory is now being used to contact landowners with active and severe gully erosion to begin the process of developing a plan correct the problems using Best Management Practices (BMPs). In 2012, the SWCD was awarded a CWF grant to begin implementation. With that grant funding, ten of the identified gullies were corrected in 2012 and 2013. The SWCD has received interest from several more landowners with identified gullies. This project will focus on these willing landowners to implement BMPs to correct active gully erosion sites along the escarpment. Plans will be designed that both meet their needs and stabilize the gully to help reduce the amount of phosphorus and sediment deposited into the St. Croix River.