Five lakes in the Long Lake Creek Subwatershed are listed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as being impaired for water quality due to excess nutrients: Holy Name, School, Wolsfeld, Long, and Tanager. Recognizing the need for a holistic, systems-based approach to addressing these issues, a partnership formed between the Cities of Medina, Long Lake, and Orono, Long Lake Waters Association (LLWA), and Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD).

In order to cost-effectively address these impairments, additional data was needed to enhance our understanding of the ecological and water quality issues in the Long Lake Creek Subwatershed. In 2017 and 2018, MCWD collected additional water quality data while Long Lake, Medina, and LLWA partnered to collect data on invasive common carp. These monitoring efforts provided the catalyst for MCWD, with support from the partnership, to obtain a $112,000 grant from the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources to analyze the data and develop a roadmap to guide the implementation of water quality improvement projects in the Long Lake Creek Subwatershed.

The roadmap will go beyond identification of project opportunities to also include non-project strategies, roles, timeline, and potential funding sources. The plan will provide local partners with actionable projects to address poor water quality in the Long Lake Creek Subwatershed. Ultimately, this will improve water quality and ecological health across the subwatershed, creating value and enjoyment for residents.

Timeline:

April 2019 - March 2020: Complete natural resource assessment to understand issues and drivers of poor water quality throughout the subwatershed
October 2019 - March 2020: Incorporate land use plans to identify opportunities to implement water quality improvement projects
April 2020 - May 2021: Evaluate and prioritize project opportunities
June - December 2021: Develop implementation strategy and draft the roadmap