Lake Traverse Water Quality Project Phase 1

The project will stabilize approximately 3,500 feet of TCD 52 channel from State Highway 27 to Lake Traverse (project area). The project will reduce bed and bank scour, stabilize side slopes, and minimize erosion, resulting in a significant reduction in sediment and nutrient loading to Lake Traverse. The BdSWD, in partnership with the Traverse County SWCD, is proposing to reduce an estimated average of 750 tons per year of non-point pollutant sediment loading to Lake Traverse that discharges from Traverse County Ditch 52 (TCD 52) (AUID 09020101-540) downstream of Minnesota State Highway 27 due to hydrologic flows in the channel resulting in severe down cutting, bank failure and erosion. The project will result in water quality benefits to Lake Traverse and other downstream waterbodies, including Mud Lake, the Bois de Sioux River, and ultimately the Red River of the North, which provides drinking water to the City of Moorhead. The project will also have natural resource benefits to fisheries and wildlife. The BdSWD and local partners have a goal to completely stabilize TCD 52 in a series of phases in a comprehensive effort to address water quality impairments. The first phase (this project) is an eroded gully that is highly visible from MN State Highway 27. It is a locally well-known significant source of sediment and nutrients to Lake Traverse and the outlet of the watershed. Through recent efforts and coordination fueled by the WRAPS process, BdSWD and their partners, with landowner support, believe it is important to stabilize the outlet reach of TCD 52 first, and are committed to addressing other problem areas upstream from the outlet reach in future phases of the overall project plan. This first phase of the project will be used as a model for future upstream stabilization projects on TCD 52 that are experiencing similar issues.