Long Lake Creek Subwatershed Assessment

In 2014, the Upper Minnehaha Creek Watershed Nutrient and Bacteria TMDL Study identified nutrient load reduction goals for five impaired water bodies within the 11.9 square mile Long Lake Creek subwatershed. In 2017, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) updated its Watershed Management Plan, which outlines water quality issues, potential drivers of poor water quality, and general implementation strategies within the Long Lake Creek subwatershed.
Between 2016 and 2018 a partnership emerged among cities within the Long Lake Creek subwatershed, the Long Lake Waters Association, and MCWD to pursue water quality improvements in water bodies impaired for excess nutrients. However, the only feasibility study that has been developed was for the Lower Long Lake Creek subwatershed that focused on watershed areas south of Long Lake. Therefore, the Upper Long Lake Creek subwatershed that contains the majority of nutrient impairments lacks a detailed implementation framework.

The goal of this project is to identify watershed and in-lake best management practices (BMPs) to improve water quality for impaired water bodies within the Upper Long Lake Creek subwatershed. The existing P8 watershed model and BATHTUB lake response models will be updated and refined to identify BMPs, develop project costs, and estimate nutrient load reductions. A feasibility report will be developed that outlines prioritized projects, estimated load reductions, and project costs to accelerate implementation of water quality improvement projects within the Upper Long Lake Creek subwatershed.