Water Quality Improvement Projects

Three Rivers Park District’s Water Resources Team is committed to improving the water quality of lakes located within the parks. Staff is regularly checking lakes in the Park District for any water quality concerns. If concerns are identified, a course of action is planned and carried out to improve the water quality.

Gale Woods Farm

Whaletail Lake, which can be accessed from Gale Woods Farm, was listed on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s impaired waters list for excessive nutrients (south basin in 2006 and north basin in 2008). The lake currently has high phosphorus concentrations and poor water clarity due to summer algae blooms.  In 2017, Pioneer-Sarah Creek Watershed Management Commission (PSCWMC) and Three Rivers Park District completed a study (Pioneer-Sarah Creek Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load)  to identify sources of nutrient loading that affected the surface water quality of the lake. The study determined that nutrients, primarily phosphorus, are being recycled from the sediments of the lake to the surface accounting for 80% of the phosphorus load affecting the water quality in the south basin.

Since the study was completed, the north basin has noticeably improved and is currently meeting state water quality standards. The south basin, however, continued to have impaired water quality conditions. To bring the south basin of Whaletail Lake into compliance and ensure that the north basin will continue to meet the state water quality standards, Three Rivers Park District has planned an alum application, which will be applied as two separate treatments occurring in the spring of 2023 and 2024, to address long-term control of internal phosphorus loading. Alum has a strong binding capacity that prohibits the release and recycling of phosphorus into the surface water column. Alum is a benign and safe product that has been successfully used on other Minnesota lakes to improve lake water quality conditions.

This partner project involves several different agencies and will be completely funded through a Board Water and Soil Resources Clean Water Legacy Fund grant, with contributions from Pioneer-Sarah Creek Watershed Management Commission, the City of Minnetrista and Three Rivers Park District. The project will improve water quality conditions to achieve in-lake water quality standards for the south basin, including improved water clarity conditions with less frequent summer algal blooms. The improved water quality conditions will benefit the aquatic plant and fish communities on the lake.

Sochacki Park

Three Rivers Park District, in coordination with Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, and the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission,  is leading a water quality improvement project at Sochacki Park aimed at improving the ecological health, aesthetics and condition of the park’s shallow wetlands and providing additional outdoor recreation and education opportunities.

The ponds within Sochacki Park, including North Rice, South Rice and Grimes, are classified as shallow wetlands by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. As part of the two cities’ stormwater management systems, these ponds receive runoff from the surrounding areas before draining into Bassett Creek. Common to wetlands in urban areas, the ponds have high amounts of nutrients that contribute to water quality problems, prompting concern from residents and park visitors.

The first phase of the project centered on a sub-watershed assessment to inventory current conditions and establish a baseline to work from. Over the course of two years, Water Resources staff tracked water quality through monthly pond sampling, vegetation surveys, sediment analysis and stormwater monitoring. This body of data was incorporated into calibrated watershed and wetland models used to examine pollutant loading and to develop best management practices (BMPs) for improving water quality. A sub-watershed assessment report was completed in 2022 outlining realistic water quality goals and identifying recommended actions to reduce pollutant loading and improve wetland health.

The next phase of the project involved a feasibility study to examine the suite of recommended actions from an engineering, environmental and regulatory permitting perspective. This study further refined locations for proposed stormwater ponds, excavation and stabilization work, and in-basin management actions to improve water quality. The final feasibility study report and appendices, completed in 2023, provides the foundation for the project’s final engineering design and Phase II environmental review, which are currently underway. A summary presentation from the feasibility study can be found here.

Funding for final design and project implementation comes from multiple sources including more than $1.6 million in a Federal Community Project Funding grant and up to $600,000 from the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission, from their Capital Improvement Program funds. Three Rivers Park District and the cities of Golden Valley and Robbinsdale may provide additional funding toward implementation once final design plans and cost estimates are completed.

Sochacki Park includes land in Robbinsdale and Golden Valley and is jointly operated under a partnership between Three Rivers Park District and the Cities of Golden Valley and Robbinsdale. The park entrance is located at 3500 June Ave. N., Robbinsdale. For more information about this water quality improvement project, contact Jami Markle, Three Rivers Park District Director of Natural Resources, at 763-694-7841 or Jami.Markle@ThreeRiversParks.org.

Fish Lake Regional Park

Fish Lake covers 238 acres, offering fishing, boating and swimming to park visitors and area residents. In 2008, the lake was listed on the state’s impaired waters list for excess phosphorus. Excess phosphorus causes algae blooms that turn the water green which negatively affects the suitability of the lake for humans, pets and even wildlife.

Together with the Elm Creek Watershed Management Commission and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Three Rivers’ staff conducted water quality studies at Fish Lake. These studies found that most of the phosphorus affecting the lake’s surface water was being released by enriched sediment at the bottom of the lake. Three Rivers worked with the City of Maple Grove, the Fish Lake Area Residents Association, and the Elm Creek Watershed Management Commission to pursue a strategy to correct the problem and bring the lake into compliance with state water quality standards.

On behalf of the Watershed Commission and with the support of the partners, Three Rivers submitted a grant application through the state’s Clean Water Fund program to treat Fish Lake with a chemical compound called alum. The grant was approved and alum treatment has begun. Alum is commonly used in the kitchen for pickling and by water treatment facilities for treating drinking water. When applied properly, it is safe to use in a lake to control phosphorus released by lake bottom sediment.

Lake Rebecca Park Reserve

Lake Rebecca was listed on the state’s impaired waters list in 1998 for excessive mercury and again in 2008 for excess phosphorus. Three Rivers staff worked with Hennepin County Environmental Services to improve manure and stormwater management by a livestock operation in the lake's watershed. Three Rivers also used several different methods to treat stormwater from developed areas within the park. In 2009, Three Rivers staff launched efforts to control the invasive curly leaf pondweed, which is known to damage water quality. And finally, Three Rivers staff carried out an alum treatment on the lake to dramatically reduce the release of phosphorus from highly enriched bottom sediments.

Water quality in the lake has dramatically improved, and the public, as well as regulatory agencies, has noticed. Because of these efforts, Lake Rebecca has been removed from the state's "impaired waters" list, the first lake in Three Rivers Park District to achieve that distinction.