The purpose of this program is to engage community groups for the installation of community accessible rain gardens and other water quality best management practices in Ramsey County. The goal is to install 6-12 storm water best management projects that will help protect and improve water quality of surrounding lakes. The installed practices will reduce an estimated 10 acre-feet of storm water runoff, 9 pounds of phosphorous, and 3 tons of sediment annually. Significant measurable outputs, with development of long-term partnerships, are primary objectives for this program.
This feasibility study will produce strategies for wetland restoration and ditch hydrology changes to reduce the amount of phosphorus and solids that drain into Typo and Martin Lakes, the Sunrise River and St. Croix River. Total Maximum Daily Loads and other plans have identified this area as key for pollutant reduction, and the study will determine scope and effects of potential projects, allowing the district to prioritize those that will have the great impact on water quality.
This project will install nearly 800 linear feet of restored lakeshore with an emphasis on bioengineering techniques, native plants and locating buffers/swales at points of concentrated overland flow into Green Lake. By targeting properties that are eroding and/or with concentrated overland flow to the lake we will reduce suspended solids discharge by 16,697 lbs/yr and phosphorus by 1.3 lbs/yr.
Past and current monitoring data has shown Ramsey County's Lambert Creek has high levels of total phosphorus (TP), anywhere from 0.14 mg/L to 0.30 mg/L, which is above the proposed State standard of 0.10 mg/L for streams in the Central Region.
This project will result in the installation of give water quality practices totaling 350 linear feet of restored lakeshore and 6,000 square feet of native plant stormwater management. By targeting properties that are eroding and/or with concentrated overland flow to the lake, pollutant discharge to the lake will be reduced.
Little Lake Johanna is not meeting state water quality standards due to excessive phosphorus. The Rice Creek Watershed District, in partnership with the City of Roseville, will improve the water quality of stormwater runoff into Little Lake Johanna through installation of an iron-enhanced sand filter. The Oasis Pond Iron-Enhanced Sand Filter Project will annually remove approximately 34 pounds of phosphorus from runoff to Little Lake Johanna annually. This is equal to nearly 20% of the needed load reduction as established by the Southwest Urban Lakes Total Maximum Daily Load Study.
Golden Lake does not meet state water quality standards due to high phosphorus levels. The proposed iron enhanced sand filter basin was identified in the Golden Lake Subwatershed Stormwater Retrofit Analysis to be one of the most cost effective remaining practices for reducing external phosphorus loads to Golden Lake. This project, paired with two previously installed upstream Best Management Practices, will achieve on average, 84% of the phosphorus reduction goal for the watershed.
The purpose of this program is to provide cost share funding to community groups for the installation of community accessible rain gardens and other water quality projects in Ramsey County. The Ramsey Conservation District (RCD) in partnership with local property owners and Watershed Districts/Water Management Organizations will install 6-12 stormwater best management projects that will help protect and improve water quality of surrounding lakes, streams, rivers, and wetlands.
Ramsey County, the most densely populated county in Minnesota, generates high levels of contaminated runoff from its impervious surfaces, which can have damaging effects on both surface water and groundwater. Concerns arise when these contaminants drain into abandoned and unused wells, threatening the quality of groundwater, especially in drinking water supply areas, wellhead protection areas, or groundwater recharge zones.
Capitol Region Watershed District is partnering with St. Paul Public Schools to implement a variety of highly visible Best Management Practices at Central High School that will improve the quality of stormwater discharged to the Mississippi River. A tremendous amount of sediment is discharged from the school annually due to the large impervious areas and lack of vegetation. Implementing the projects will reduce sediment by 86% and phosphorus by 90% over the target area annually.
Capitol Region Watershed District will partner with local organizations and private landowners to implement a variety of cost-effective Best Management Practices in the East Kittsondale subwatershed. The urbanized condition of the 1,860 acre subwatershed results in an estimated 1,500 pounds of phosphorus, over 470,000 pounds of sediment, and significant concentrations of bacteria associated with that sediment being sent untreated to the Mississippi River each year. Those pollutants have contributed to several impairments within the river.
The Ramsey Conservation District is partnering with the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization, St. Paul Regional Water Service, and Ramsey County Parks and Recreation to restore and stabilize approximately 550 linear feet of streambank along the Sucker Lake Channel in northeastern Ramsey County with a cost effective critical area planting, replacing the existing mix of turf grass and asphalt streambank with a native vegetation planting.
This project will continue collaboration with faith organizations in priority areas to implement stormwater volume reduction retrofit projects. Priority areas are defined as areas with limited to no stormwater treatment before reaching a water body and/or areas that drain to an impaired or at risk water.
The Mississippi River is currently listed as impaired for turbidity. Eroding riverbanks are one of the causes of this impairment. An inventory was completed in 2016 of riverbank condition along 5.8-miles of the Mississippi River that is within the City of Ramsey. In this inventory, ten severe to very severe eroding stretches spanning 27 private properties and 6,550 linear feet were identified. Cumulatively, these sites contribute 5,148 tons of sediment per year to the river.
At almost 4,000 acres, Trout Brook is the largest subwatershed in the Capitol Region Watershed District and the City of Saint Paul. The restored stream is part of the 42 acre Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary project, whose goal is to return the area back to some resemblance of its pre-industrialized valley of stream floodplain and wetlands. Monitoring results within the corridor show that phosphorus, sediments, bacteria, lead and copper are the pollutants of most concern.
