Our Master Water Stewards program is growing

by Sage Passi

Many of the Master Water Stewards gathered in January at a potluck in Woodbury for a collaborative event with a new cohort of South Washington County Master Water Stewards. This is just one roomful of our volunteers!

We recently celebrated our new graduating class of community watershed volunteers who completed their training as Master Water Stewards. The program is a partnership between the Freshwater Society and cities, watershed districts, watershed management organizations and non-profits. We now have 16 certified Master Water Stewards doing great work in our watershed.

Joining the ranks

Each year, a new group of stewards are recruited in the fall to join the ranks of a growing cadre of volunteers who provide support for our education, natural resources and stewardship initiatives. They are truly a valuable set of eyes and ears on the ground who help us build relationships with their cities, communities and neighborhoods.

Early on in their training, we organize a tour for new Master Water Stewards to see different examples of projects installed around the district. On one of their stops this fall they visited rain gardens at Prince of Peace Church, which are maintained by volunteers.

Ramsey County Master Gardener Roger Hintze and church member Anne Haugan (on the right) share tips and history about the installation and care of Prince of Peace’s rain gardens with Stewards.

Master Water Steward Linda Neilson, (second from left in the photo) who joined the program in 2016, met the tour at the church stop. She helped Anne and her husband, Gus, get a curb-cut rain garden installed in their Roseville lawn as her capstone project.

At another stop the group visited Kristy Odland’s LEAP award-winning property in St. Paul with several lovely boulevard rain gardens, native habitat and pavers.

Chris Strong, a new Master Water Steward in training who is also participating in the Master Gardener course, checks out the plant diversity in Kristy Odland’s gardens. Kristy’s yard also features a sitting area for passerby to rest and admire the gardens. It’s also a great place to watch the eagles soaring above Beaver Lake across the street.

Training and graduation

The training is intensive! In their first year, stewards get certified by participating in an online course and in person-classes over a six month period. Along the way, they meet regularly with a cohort of other Master-Water Stewards in-training from Capitol Region and Rice Creek watershed districts.

After this initial training, they complete an “in-the-ground” capstone project and an outreach project. Next, they are required to put in 50 volunteer hours in the first year. In subsequent years, the hour requirement drops to 25 hours to keep their certification active. They are also required to complete 8 hours of continuing education annually.

Once their training is complete, a graduation ceremony and project showcase is held for Master Water Stewards across the east metro area. It’s a good opportunity for participants to connect with other stewards and learn about their capstone projects. At this year’s ceremony, Rebecca Flood, assistant commissioner for water policy at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, read a proclamation by Gov. Dayton declaring this graduation date the state’s official Master Water Stewards Day.

Our cohort of Master Water Stewards show off the Governor’s proclamation. Top (L-R): Phil Plumbo, Phyllis Webster, Paul Gardner, Bill Cranford. Middle (L-R): Linda Neilson and Rachel Hanks. Front (L-R): Anna Barker and Chris Strong.

After becoming certified, Master Water Stewards work with us to initiate new projects that address watershed issues like stormwater pollution and habitat. They work on educational projects and demonstration sites, volunteer for District events, help us brainstorm new directions, and play the important role of being sounding boards. They can play a strong role precisely because they are based in their communities and have a unique vantage point to identify opportunities for local engagement.

Our new Master Water Stewards

So who are these new Master Water Stewards? Why were they interested in joining the program, and what do they hope to gain from participating? Let’s take a look!

Phil Plumbo, Maplewood

Phil Plumbo is one of the two head beekeeper volunteers at Ramsey County's Tamarack Nature Center. He has taught beekeeping seminars and trained many beekeeper volunteers.

Shortly after he began the program, Phil helped out with a L’Etoile du Nord School field trip to Beaver Lake. He also assisted Stephanie Wang, a seasoned Master Water Steward, in improving a recently installed rain garden in that neighborhood. Phil is planning to do a shoreline restoration on Beaver Lake for his capstone project.

Phil Plumbo and his wife, Ann, assist Stephanie Wang in replacing the mulch at a Beaver Lake neighborhood rain garden.

Why are you interested in being a Master Water Steward?
I took a limnology course while at college and it sparked my interest in lakes. I have lived on several lakes and have witnessed their declining water quality.

What do you expect to gain from your participation in the program?
A better understanding of ways to improve the environmental health of our lakes, streams and rivers.

What changes are you hoping to affect in your community?
I would like to see wider adoption of rain gardens, and improved water quality in our area lakes.

Michelle Natarajan, St. Paul

Michelle Natarajan investigates our office site’s dry creek bed that directs roof-run off into a rain garden.

Michelle was introduced to us by an organizer in the Como Lake neighborhood because of her interest in developing a similar adoption and cleanup program around Lake Phalen where she lives. Two of our Master Water Students and I met with her, and the next day she applied!

Why are you interested in being a Master Water Steward?I would like to be more involved in protecting water quality in my community. I work in an environmental lab, testing water quality and lake sediment samples. But because my undergraduate work was in an unrelated field, I feel that I could still benefit greatly from the scope of topics covered in this program. I would like to add to what I've learned in graduate school and my professional life in order to be a more effective advocate and steward of urban lakes, streams and rivers.

What do you expect to gain from your participation in the program? I hope to refresh and add to my knowledge of basic hydrology. I hope to better understand how storm drainage systems connect with surface water in my community. I hope to learn about local laws regarding water quality and ways that public policy and community engagement can be used to enhance and protect our natural resources. I hope to learn about strategies that can be implemented by individuals and businesses to keep local lakes clean and I hope to complete a Capstone project that makes a measurable difference in my neighborhood.

What changes are you hoping to affect in your community?I would like to encourage more community members to take ownership of and pride in our natural water resources so that we can work together for good policy, regular clean-ups, responsible landscaping choices, and regular water quality monitoring.

Chris Strong, St. Paul

Chris Strong (right) surveys the beautiful natural habitats in Kristy Odland’s Leap award-winning yard.

Chris Strong worked many years for a neighborhood non-profit that provides community rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities. She spent the last nine years working as an human resources director. She has skills in writing, policy development and training. She also has a strong interest in gardening and just retired last year.

Why are you interested in being a Master Water Steward?I live just off East Shore Drive, and for the past 30 years have enjoyed being close to Lake Phalen. Living in a city, on a lake filled with wildlife, is a real privilege – and I would like to see this preserved for perpetuity.

What do you expect to gain from your participation in the program?Giving back to the community and using my skills in a meaningful manner.

What changes are you hoping to affect in your community?A public appreciation of the natural resources that we have and an understanding of how personal actions impact the community as a whole.

Melissa Peck, Maplewood

Melissa Peck, Master Water Steward from Maplewood participates in the basic hyrdology class.

Melissa recently completed a Master’s Program in natural resources science and management at the University of Minnesota. She now works for the Environmental Quality Board at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as an environmental review planner. She is also a committee member of the community design review board for the City of Maplewood. She has training in civic engagement, public opinion and meeting facilitation.

Why are you interested in being a Master Water Steward?I’m interested in improving water quality in my community and networking with water management professionals.

What do you expect to gain from your participation in the program?Education, networking opportunities, skill building and a resume builder.

What changes are you hoping to affect in your community?I hope to help increase awareness of impaired water and what causes it, as well as increase community involvement in improving water quality. I am also excited to participate in water improvement projects myself.

Melissa Peck (right), Phil Plumbo and Watershed Project Manager Paige Alhborg discuss priority areas for stewardship projects in the the district.

District, Ramsey County receive grant to restore wetland and forest habitat near Snail Lake

by Bill Bartodziej, Natural Resources Specialist

Photo by Sage Passi.

Natural habitat in need

Nestled between Snail and Grass Lakes lies a large parcel of Ramsey County parkland supporting wetlands and remnant oak forest that have been spared significant human disturbance. Additionally, it has unique topography with an impressive diversity of micro-habitats and plant species. Popular walking trails encourage residents to enjoy the area, and it is the largest undeveloped parcel in the northern part of our watershed.

Unfortunately, the area has become degraded by invasive plants over the last few decades, and in recent years has been threatened by flooding.

Mature oak forest habitat has been degraded
by invasive buckthorn. Photo by Sage Passi.

In November, the District and Ramsey County were awarded a DNR Conservation Partners Legacy Grant of $252,000, to restore this land. It is an extremely competitive grant program, so we are quite fortunate that this project was selected. The ecological restoration will involve erosion control, invasive species removal, and the reintroduction of native plant species to improve the health, integrity and sustainability of the parkland.

Project partnership

Site preparation work will begin this year, and revegetation efforts – seeding and planting – will begin in 2019 and conclude in 2021. The District and the county is committed to monitoring and maintenance over the long term. We will focus our efforts on 60 acres of degraded forest and 4,000 linear feet of wetland edge, totaling 4 acres of wetland buffer. District staff will lead the buffer restoration work, while county staff will head the upland forest restoration. This type of partnership with Ramsey County has worked well in the past, where we have maximized technical know-how and project funding. 

The wetland buffer restoration will address areas that were inundated by the high water conditions and overrun with invasive plants like reed canary grass and buckthorn. Eliminating erosion and increasing native plant diversity will have substantial ecological benefits to the entire wetland complex.

Shoreview Public Works Director Mark Maloney and

others toured the restoration site in September.
Photo by Kathryn Keefer.

Before any revegetation takes place, findings from our ongoing hydrological study of the area will be used to develop a restoration plan for the wetland buffer. Being adjacent to a popular walking path, park users will be able to view the restoration as it matures over time. We hope this will demonstrate a viable land management option to residents who are contemplating their own wetland or lakeshore restoration projects.


We look forward to bringing in additional community partners, including more than 300 students from five local schools. Master Gardeners and Master Water Stewards will assist the students with native planting. The Ramsey County Correctional Facility will grow the plants to be used in this restoration and also supply inmate work crews to conduct site preparation. We will also enlist local volunteer groups to collect native seed from nearby restoration sites to use on the project.

We expect these partnerships to provide excellent educational opportunities, community ownership and substantial cost savings. Most importantly, the project will bring much needed stewardship to this important ecosystem.

Restoration map

The project will restore 60 acres of woodland (shown in red) and 4 acres of wetland buffer (in yellow).

District proceeds with plans to optimize drainage near Grass Lake and Snail Lake

Winter weather means construction season in the watershed world, and we are moving forward with plans to optimize drainage and restore natural habitat in the Grass Lake and Snail Lake area. This work is part of an ongoing study commissioned by the District in response to persistent high water conditions and concerns among local residents.

This map shows the location of projects underway to restore habitat and optimize drainage of the Grass Lake and Snail Lake system, along with surface water flow paths shown by the blue arrows. Numbered items are explained in the “Projects underway” section below.

Projects underway

1) Restore natural habitat

In partnership with Ramsey County, we were recently awarded a Conservation Partners Legacy Grant of $252,000 from the Minnesota DNR to restore 60 acres of degraded forest and about four acres of wetland habitat. This 4-year project will begin this year as we remove invasive vegetation like buckthorn and prepare the site for native planting.

2) Grass Lake berm

Plans are underway to construct a permanent berm along the north side of Grass Lake to replace two sections of temporary sandbags. The berm will help contain high waters on the lake’s northern shoreline.

3) Twin Culverts under Ramsey County trail

East of the berm, we plan to add two 44-inch by 26-inch culverts to carry water from Grass Lake underneath the Ramsey County walking trail to an adjacent marsh. This will improve drainage beyond the smaller 18-inch culvert currently running underneath the trail.

4) Dredge Grass Lake east shoreline

We will remove about 775 cubic yards of sediment along east shoreline of Grass Lake and dig out a 360-foot-long channel 2 feet below the lake bottom to allow better drainage to the new culverts being installed.


5) Improve channel between Grass Lake and Railroad Tracks

To improve flow between Grass Lake and a wetland area near the railroad tracks to the east, we will remove about 1,825 cubic yards of sediment and dig out a 560-foot-long channel.

6) Improve channel into West Vadnais Lake

To improve flow from Grass Lake into West Vadnais Lake, we will remove about 160 cubic yards of sediment from the downstream end of two Rice Street culverts. Riprap will be placed at the end of the culverts to keep sediment from building up in the future.

7) Replace West Vadnais Blvd. culvert

To keep water flowing south under West Vadnais Boulevard, we will replace the current 12-inch culvert with a larger and slightly lower 44-inch by 26-inch culvert.

8) Improve West Vadnais Lake outlet

We are pursuing permits to improve the West Vadnais Lake outlet, which flows south under I-694, by replacing a section of the current 15-inch pipe with a larger 24-inch pipe. In addition, a new trash guard and riprap will help keep debris from blocking the outlet.

Potential projects

We are studying the feasibility of several potential projects to create additional water storage within the Grass/Snail Lake system or move water out of the system. These options are outlined in a recent Barr Engineering study and include:

• Installing an outlet pipe from Snail Lake, which is currently landlocked, to Grass Lake. The pipe would be equipped with a manual gate to prevent backflow into Snail Lake, and only opened when Grass Lake water levels are low enough to accept flows from Snail.
• Pumping water from Snail Lake to Sucker Lake in order to lower water levels in Snail Lake. An augmentation pipe is currently in place to carry water from Sucker to Snail (when Snail Lake levels are low), but it was not designed to work in reverse.
• Study the connection between Snail Lake and the marsh bordering it to the northwest to confirm its connection to Snail Lake and its availability to store Snail Lake flood waters.
• Managing water levels in ponds around Gramsie Road.
• Constructing an emergency overflow on Grass Lake that would carry water north in very large storm events, reducing the risk of Rice Street flooding.
• Lowering the outlet for West Vadnais Lake to create additional water storage in both West Vadnais and Grass lakes.
• Installing a system to pump and treat water from West Vadnais into East Vadnais Lake in order to promote drainage of the entire Grass/Snail lake system. Since St. Paul draws its drinking water from East Vadnais Lake, any water pumped there would need to meet strict quality standards according to St. Paul Regional Water Services and other regulators.