Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Jennifer Maleitzke, (651) 296-7706 St. Paul, Minn. -- No one knows better than Stephanie McNamara the impact that state grants have on improving water quality. As the administrator of the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization, McNamara manages the Clean Water Partnership grants for projects that the organization is awarded. Its most recent grant project, the Lambert Creek Phase III Water Quality Improvement Project Continuation, is chronicled in the 2008 Watershed Achievements Report, released today by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Since 1989, the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization has received four grants through the Clean Water Partnership Program. "We would not have been able to accomplish the improvements to Lambert Creek without the Clean Water Partnership grants," McNamara said. "The grants allowed us to leverage our funds at a ratio of about 4-to-1." The Lambert Creek project focused on reducing phosphorus runoff to Vadnais Lake by partially restoring the Rice Lake, Grass Lake and Lambert Lake wetlands. Vadnais Lake is used as the final storage reservoir for the drinking-water supply system operated by the St. Paul Regional Water Service, which serves 400,000 customers in eight communities. To restore the wetlands, the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization constructed a 530-foot-long overflow dam to distribute flows to the greater wetland without raising the current 100-year frequency flood elevation. Dave Schuler, chief engineer for the St. Paul Regional Water Service, said the biggest accomplishments of the project include a larger detention time and additional habitat within the wetland. "Initial monitoring indicates a large flow reduction and subsequent phosphorus reductions within the wetland," Schuler said. The Lambert Creek project is only one of 42 projects across Minnesota highlighted in the 2008 Watershed Achievements Report. Organized by basin, the report summarizes progress made in addressing nonpoint-source pollution through projects funded under Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act and the MPCA's Clean Water Partnership Program from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008. The summaries are for projects in the Des Moines River, Lake Superior, Lower Mississippi River, Minnesota River, Rainy River, Red River, St. Croix River and Upper Mississippi River basins. Each project summary includes the project's history and objectives, water-quality outcomes, and financial and contact information. The report can be found on the MPCA's Web site at/water/cwp-319.html#reports. Or, you can obtain a copy of the report by calling Sara Johnson of the MPCA at (651) 296-8278.