Baker Park Reserve Campground Ravine Stabilization, Lake Independence, Hennepin County
$6,882,000 the first year and $12,618,000 the second year are for grants to protect and restore surface water and drinking water; to keep water on the land; to protect, enhance, and restore water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams; and to protect groundwater and drinking water, including feedlot water quality and subsurface sewage treatment system projects and stream bank, stream channel, shoreline restoration, and ravine stabilization projects. The projects must use practices demonstrated to be effective, be of long-lasting public benefit, include a match, and be consistent with total maximum daily load (TMDL) implementation plans, watershed restoration and protection strategies (WRAPS), or local water management plans or their equivalents. A portion of these funds may be used to seek administrative efficiencies through shared resources by multiple local governmental units.
Average annual phosphorus loads to Lake Independence would be reduced by an estimated 134 pounds.
LOCAL LEVERAGED FUNDS
Lake Independence is a highly valued, impaired resource located in western Hennepin County. Baker Park Reserve, owned and operated by the Three Rivers Park District (TRPD), provides over 4,500 feet of publically accessible shoreline on Lake Independence. Recent studies identified 2,200 feet of eroding channel within Baker Park Reserve that contributes 300 tons of sediment and 277 pounds of phosphorus to Lake Independence each year. The most cost-effective approach to address the major source of pollutant loading from the ravine is to install a series of rock grade control structures. Average annual phosphorus loads would be reduced by an estimated 134 per year. This reduction would accomplish 15% of the needed total watershed phosphorus load reduction.
Wayne Zellmer