2015: A big year for cleaning water

By Madeline Seveland

Carver County Water Management

The Carver County Water Management Organization (CCWMO) is planning for a big year in 2015 with a list of projects that will reduce pollutants to our lakes and rivers and conserve drinking water. Many of these projects will be visible to the public and so wed like to highlight a few for you to look for in 2015.

The CCWMO has partnered with School District 110 and the City of Waconia to install a water reuse system at Bayview Elementary that will capture stormwater runoff from eight acres of surrounding residential land and use it to irrigate the high school football field and adjacent ball fields.

This will protect Burandt Lake from polluted stormwater runoff and preserve drinking water resources.

The stormwater runoff will be treated before being used on the fields. Phase I was installed in 2013. In 2015, phase II of this Bayview Elementary Reuse project will install three additional water tanks increasing storage capacity to 15,900 cubic feet (or four nights of watering the football field).

A very visible project in Waconia that will protect Lake Waconia is the Fountain Park Retrofit. Located outside Waconias City Hall, a stormwater pond (historically called Frog Pond) and the surrounding area will be retrofitted to capture and treat stormwater runoff from downtown Waconia. Pollution reducing practices will include raingardens, porous pavements and a sand filter to capture and hold phosphorus.

Phase II of the Benton Lake Restoration Plan is planned for 2015-16.

Benton Lake is impaired (polluted) with excessive nutrients, in part caused by the high numbers of rough fish like carp living in the lake. Phase I installed a fish barrier to prevent additional carp from getting into the lake. Phase II will include removal of the current carp population and re-establishment of a healthy fish population.

In 2014, CCWMO was awarded a number of grants to help clean our lakes and river including the Exclusion Grant and Community Partners Grant both funded by the Clean Water Legacy Funds (2008 amendment).

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2015: A big year for cleaning water