City of Brainerd Mississippi River Gully Erosion 250 Tons TSS
The City of Brainerd will stabilize the 1.4-acre gulley that has eroded over 8,706 tons of sediment since 1985. The erosion started after the city constructed a conveyance pipe along Buffalo Hills Lane City Road. The current gully is unstable and poses significant risks to city and public infrastructures, three stormwater outfalls, ten private properties, and houses. Since the 1990s, this gully has transported 100 percent of bank and bed erosion to Little Buffalo Creek and the Mississippi River (HR Green Inc.). The Crow Wing Soil Water Conservation District (SWCD) will partner with the City of Brainerd, private landowners, an engineering consultant, and a contractor to install 1,300 linear feet of reinforced concrete pipes within the gully channel. A deposition pool, erosion control fabric, and native seed mixes will minimize erosive forces as water is conveyed to the City of Brainerd's Rotary Park Mississippi River flood plain. The water will infiltrate and stay within the flood plain. This project will reduce 250 tons per year of total suspended solids (TSS) and 250 pounds of phosphorous per year to the Mississippi River. This project will address 26 percent of the City of Brainerd's waste load allocations for the Mississippi River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). This specific subwatershed has 24 percent developed land use, and over 53 percent disturbed land cover. This project will meet priorities in the Upper Mississippi River TMDL. In 2021, the City invested over $125,000 to complete citizen engagement activities and a final engineered plan and design. Ten landowners along the gully are invested and willing to sign construction and drainage easements. This project will be successful because of the SWCD and City's experience managing and implementing large-scale million-dollar projects. If this project is not funded, property values, public infrastructures, and residential homes are at risk of continual sediment erosion occurring at 250 tons per year.
http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/board
http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/board
Annie Felix-Gerth
(b) $10,762,000 the first year and $11,504,000 the second year are for grants to local government units 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. Up to 20 percent of this appropriation is available for land-treatment projects and practices that benefit drinking water.
This project will reduce 250 tons per year of TSS and 250 pounds of phosphorous per year to the Mississippi River, a TSS-impaired reach. This project will stabilize the 1.4-acre gully that has eroded 8,706 tons of sediment to Little Buffalo Creek.
LOCAL LEVERAGED FUNDS