Seeking Master Water Stewards-in-Training

Master Water Stewards identify examples of residential water practices during one of their classes.

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Are you looking for an opportunity to get involved protecting water in your community? Consider becoming a Master Water Steward. Now entering its third season, the deadline for the Master Water Stewards program in the District is fast approaching. Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District is seeking four Master Water Steward applicants for the coming year.

Applications are due September 30 and can be found here. Classes will begin on October 10. Contact Sage Passi at 612-598-9163 or by email for more information.

Stewards-in-training will participate in classes both online and in person, tour our watershed and identify projects in the community that will reduce water pollution. As part of the certification process, Master Water Stewards work in pairs to design a capstone project and develop an outreach educational activity or event.

Evan Pugh shares his knowledge about protecting bee habitat
while doing maintenance for rain gardens.

Here is an example of what one of our Master Water Steward teams accomplished this year after completing their training:  

Master Water Stewards, Bill Cranford, Rachel Hanks and Phyllis Webster initiated the Adopt-A-Drain program as their capstone project in the Phalen Heights area of St. Paul this spring. They reached out to over 700 household in their neighborhood in order to identify residents who would commit to clearing leaves, dirt and trash regularly from storm drains near their homes and keep them from polluting nearby Lake Phalen and the Mississippi River downstream.




Rachel Hanks installs an Adopt-a-Drain
sign in her neighborhood.

Rachel says, “It’s gratifying to experience positive results from our efforts to improve water quality. We see clean storm drains as we take our regular walks in the neighborhood. We have engaged with our neighbors and are building a network of people who also desire to keep our local Lake Phalen clean."


Master Water Stewards Program Intro Session at Urban Boatbuilders - September 14

Join Master Water Stewards and Watershed District program staff at Urban Boatbuilders on Thursday, September 14, from 5:30 - 7:00 PM to learn more about this dynamic program. Guests can expect delicious appetizers and a sneak peek at the Urban Boatbuilders workshop, as well as great conversation with the people who know this program best - our stewards. Stewards will be sharing their stories throughout the event. Stop by on your way home from work and stay as long as you’d like. RSVPs appreciated.



The workshop at Urban Boatbuilders

Directions and Parking
Urban Boatbuilders is located at 2288 University Avenue W, St. Paul 55114

From the west:
Urban Boatbuilders warehouse is on University, but set back from the road. Turn right on LaSalle and the building will be on your left. Parking is along the back on Myrtle Street.

From the east:
If coming from the east, you'll pass the address and turn around at Raymond to head east on University and take a right on LaSalle. The building will be on your left. Parking is along the back on Myrtle Street.

The Final Stages of our Church Grant

By Paige Ahlborg

Lakeview Lutheran Church was our first completed project through the Clean Water Land & Legacy Grant.

In 2013, Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District received a community partners grant through the Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment. We used this grant to partner with six churches to install over fifteen rain gardens on their properties. These churches were in Maplewood, Roseville and St. Paul. A complete listing can be found on our website. This grant was met with such success that we applied for and received a second grant in 2015 to work with six additional churches. 

In 2016, rain gardens were installed at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Parkview United Church of Christ in White Bear Lake and Christ United Methodist Church in Maplewood. In 2017, rain gardens were installed at North Presbyterian Church in North St. Paul and Trinity Presbyterian Church in Woodbury. The final rain garden is set to be installed at North Heights Church in Roseville this fall.

Rain garden at North Presbyterian Church in North St. Paul

This grant targeted faith organizations in priority sub-watersheds with impaired waters (those not meeting state water quality standards) or waters that are at-risk of becoming impaired. The water bodies protected through this phase of the grant include Kohlman Lake, Battle Creek and Lake Owasso. Rain gardens were installed to help lessen the amount of stormwater runoff coming from large parking lots and rooftops. By capturing the stormwater, the rain gardens help reduce the amount of phosphorus and other pollution that reaches these important water bodies.

These beautiful rain gardens not only help improve water quality, they also provide increased pollinator habitat, increased aesthetic value to the property and provide an ongoing education opportunity to the congregation. 

Rain garden at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Woodbury

For the first two years following rain garden installation, RWMWD covers maintenance costs on these projects. Church maintenance staff and volunteers are invited to be involved with the maintenance during that time to learn how to maintain their gardens. 

After our maintenance contract expires, RWMWD staff work closely with church staff to help them fully know what is needed to keep their rain gardens looking and functioning as intended.  

RWMWD has worked with many churches over the years and will continue to do so into the future under our cost share program. These grants target churches that may not otherwise known about our goals for water quality improvement. We are grateful to have received the grant and grateful to have worked with these organizations on a common goal.

More information can be found on our website at www.rwmwd.org. 

Keller Creek - A Channel for Restoring, Learning and Recreation

By Sage Passi

Mounds Park Academy biology students kick off this year's planting season at Keller Creek.

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Keller Creek is a passageway that has long been a thoroughfare for people traveling up and down the Phalen Chain of Lakes. Planting along Keller Creek is an annual affair as we restore this corridor. This spring, the relatively cool weather and frequent rains helped to make the buffer planting a success. Amazingly, not a single restoration session had to be cancelled despite the imminent rain forecast on many of our scheduled planting days!



Chris Klatt, Natural Resources Intern, Tracy Leavenworth, education consultant, and Don Vegoe, Ramsey County Master Gardener, assist Mounds Park Academy students in restoring native plants along the Keller Creek buffer.

Now in its third year, this latest phase of the restoration creek buffer project encompasses an area along the east side of the creek between the north parking lot at Lake Phalen near the boat launch and just south of the Frost Avenue Bridge. To prepare the area, invasive trees and shrubs were removed. The turf grass along the edge of the path next to the creek was killed and a seed mix planted beneath the erosion blanket fabric that covers the planting area.


To prepare the site, discs on the seeder cut slits in the dead turf and seed
was then dropped onto the soil. A heavy roller helped to close the slits and increase the seed-soil contact.

In mid-to-late May, over 375 students in fourteen classes from Mounds Park Academy, L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion, Weaver Elementary, Level Up Academy, Harmony Learning Center and Roseville Area Middle School gathered at the site to install 3,500 native plant plugs with the help of Natural Resources staff, Simba, interns Chris, Matt and Anna, education staff, Sage and Tracy, and Ramsey County Master Gardeners. These native plantings are now in the ground and thriving.

A student in Harmony Learning Center’s Adult ESL
class plants at Keller Creek.

Liddy Rich, ESL teacher at Harmony School, helps her students learn new
vocabulary words while they are oriented about the planting.

In the coming weeks, Natural Resources staff and Ramsey County Corrections inmate crews will install plants on steeper slopes and in the water in areas that were too hard for students to navigate.

Prior to coming out to the creek, classes studied the history of changes along the creek, learned about the planting zones (the upland prairie, wet meadow and emergent zones) and the ecological value of buffers and their role in preventing erosion. To review some of the creek’s many changes over time, go to this link.

Since the restoration project began three years ago, park patrons that walk by the restoration area often share positive comments and express appreciation for the work that is taking place in the park. Kayakers, canoeists and even paddle boats glide by on the creek, taking in the beauty of the area. A bicycle and walking path along the creek often carries people who are traveling between Phalen Lake and Keller Lake or others who are making connections to the Gateway Trail. At the weir or other bridges over the creek, you will often find people fishing. One sunny morning during the restoration project, a student spied a sturgeon lingering by the weir’s wall. When asked what he has been catching, a nearby fisherman reported that he often sees blue gills and big mouth bass in the creek.

The weir in Keller Creek

 

On most of the planting days, time was built into the schedule for students to explore the aquatic life in the creek. They collected samples of water and found abundant damselfly nymphs, an occasional dragonfly nymph, a variety of beetles, aquatic worms and other macroinvertebrates. Beneath the weir and other bridges you can see vibrant colonies of eel grass waving in the shallow flow of the stream. This vegetation provides habitat for some of this aquatic life. 

Anthony Larkin, a Level Up Academy teacher, climbs down along the weir to point out a turtle to his students.

After planting, many of the classes tried out some newly learned techniques for monitoring water in the creek. They collected water and then carried it onto the weir to measure the creek’s pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and transparency.

Jodie Hardenbrook, a science teacher at Roseville Area Middle School,
looks on as her students pour creek water into a transparency tube
to measure its clarity.

Except for the first day of the planting when the turbidity of the water was somewhat murky after a rain, the water was remarkably clear. Dissolved oxygen levels were in the 8-9 ppm range and the pH measured around 8.6.

A Harmony ESL student carries water up from Keller Creek
to test it for dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature.

The portages near the weir make it handy
to get down to the water’s edge.

How to Get to the Restoration Area

Starting from the South:

To give you a feel for the restoration’s progression, take a stroll along the creek from bottom to top or the reverse. It is really easy to access. One option is to park in the lot on the north end of Lake Phalen. Take the walking path to the north along the creek. The straw erosion control blanket delineates the restoration. If you look closely, you will see thousands of young native plants popping through the blanket. On your way you will pass by a monument near the Frost Avenue Bridge that provides pictures and history of the area.

Starting from the North:

You can also access the full length of the creek restoration from the north, starting with the first stretch of the restoration completed two years ago. Enter Keller Creek Regional Park through the Golfview Picnic Area entrance. This entrance is just north of Roselawn Avenue (south of County Road B in Maplewood). You need to be traveling north on Highway 61 in Maplewood to get to this entrance. Take the road in the park to the top of the hill, park in the lot at the top and walk down the newly paved pervious asphalt trail to the bottom. On your left you will see the newly dedicated Tuj Lub courts adjacent to the creek. Tuj Lub is a traditional Hmong top spinning game. These courts officially opened on June 10 with a grand opening celebration.

 

Senator Foung Hawj presents spinning tops to partners who helped make the Tuj Lub Courts possible. Partners include Ramsey County, the City of Maplewood and the Legacy Fund.

Proceed south along the east side of the creek to the weir where the restoration was done two years ago. If you cross over the weir and walk along an informal trail on the west side of the creek you can see the now thriving wet meadow areas planted by students and other volunteers in 2016. 

The vibrant wet meadow was established last year on the west side of the creek. In the background you can see the Tuj Lub dedication celebration held at the new courts on June 10.

Cross back to the east side of the creek and continue to walk along the creek. You will pass under several arched bridges and eventually arrive at the north parking lot of Lake Phalen. The creek opens up into Round Lake and then its waters flow through a channel into Lake Phalen and eventually south to the Mississippi River!

You can also paddle the creek and put in at a number of spots including any of the following lakes in the Phalen Chain of Lakes: Lake Phalen, Keller Lake or Lake Gervais. To download our WaterTrail map go here.

 

Kayaks are commonly seen along Keller Creek. If the water is deep enough they can pass right through under the weir, but when the water in the creek is shallow the stone portages make it easy to get around the weir and re-enter the water.

 

Doo Good in Woodbury

By Stephanie Wang and Linda Neilson

Spring is a great time to get outside, except when you have to watch your step in your yard, on the sidewalks and in the parks for the occasional dog dropping. Most would agree that dog droppings are smelly and gross. It ranks as one of the top complaints received by staff members from the City of Woodbury’s Environment and Parks Departments.

To address the issue, Master Water Stewards Stephanie Wang and Linda Neilson attended the Central Bark Pet Expo in Woodbury on February 18, 2017, to talk to attendees about picking up and properly disposing of dog "doo" in order to help improve water quality.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the typical dog excretes three quarters of a pound of waste per day — or 274 pounds per year. About a third of Minnesotan households own dogs, a total of over 930,000 dogs.[1] In one year Minnesotan dogs will produce over 120,000 TONS of waste, a mass exceeding the total weight of 65,00 typical school buses each weighing 18 tons.

Unfortunately, allowing dog waste to decompose where it falls is a problem, even if it’s on your yard. Dog waste carries viruses, bacteria and parasites that can transmit disease to humans and pets. A day’s waste from a typical dog can contain 7.8 billion fecal coliform bacteria as well as host Giardia and Salmonella.[1] Melting snow or heavy rainfall eventually washes dog waste left in yards, parks and on sidewalks directly into our lakes, streams and wetlands. Once in our waterways, the dog waste, which is high in nitrogen and phosphorus, promotes aquatic plant and algae growth. 

 

The “Doo Good” message focused on picking up after your pet to protect our lakes, streams, wetlands and the health of both humans and pets. Master Water Stewards Linda Neilson and Stephanie Wang created a poster and tags reinforcing this message and developed a plan to engage people at the Woodbury Pet Expo in order to actively engage people of all ages. 

Stephanie engages participants of all ages.

They asked adult pet owners to mark where they walk their dog using a dot on a Woodbury map and then to write down one idea about how to motivate everyone to pick up dog waste. In exchange for their input, the participant received a Milk Bone tagged with “Doo Good” reminders and a dog waste bag. The bag giveaway provided a chance to role play handing a spare bag to a fellow pet owner while saying “Do you need a bag?” to prevent them from walking away from their pet’s waste.



The team also offered cat stickers to passing children. They encouraged children to think about how snowmelt or rain flows across yards and down the street, carrying trash like dog waste into the storm drain and directly into a water body without treatment using the "Your Street Connects to Lakes & Rivers” display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activities that Worked Well during the Expo

 

• Giving away Milk Bones to people who provided input at the table by answering where they walk their pet and what they think could motivate people to pick up pet waste.
• Handing out Milk Bones to vendors at the other tables and encouraging them to stop by the Doggy Doo table.
• Talking with children about where the water from the snow melt ultimately ends up using the East Metro Water Resources Education Program display.
• Poop bags were not the greatest hit. However, they were useful for demonstrating how one could hand an extra bag to a pet owner and ask “Do you need a bag?” to prevent them from walking away without cleaning up their pet’s waste.



Some Interesting Comments from Attendees



• Because dog waste is biodegradable, several people noted that they felt bad about putting it in plastic bags for disposal. Note: Perhaps people aren’t aware of the bacteria introduced from pet waste. This was another educational opportunity. 
• Some homeowners associations supply poop bags for their residents at a minimal cost of less than $2 per year to pay for poop bags.
• Some participants mentioned that more signs are needed to point out it is okay to throw bagged pet waste in trash cans.
• It was suggested that more dog waste stations with bags are needed as there are not enough trash bins.
• A few attendees mentioned that their mothers taught them to pick up after their dogs and suggested running a “Mom’s Campaign”.
• Some believed that male dog walkers more often fail to pick up animal waste.
• Based on remarks during the expo, it seems that many don’t clean up frequently, especially in the winter, but feel that their pet is not contributing to the problem. Note: This can be another potential educational opportunity.
• Some suggested that corporate sponsors be obtained to offset the cost of providing poop bag stations in public parks. The Manager of Woodbury Animal Hospital was quite interested in this possibility.
• Some homeowners associations are working with the city on installing dog stations and trash cans.
• 
  

  

  Master Water Steward Linda Nielson
  with her dog Annie out for a walk
  around Langton Lake in Roseville.

  All parks should have dog bags. Some
  specific examples noted in Woodbury were:
  
  Dancing Waters Fish Lake is 90% improved.
  
  Carver Lake Trails needs dog bags.
  
  Park Hills neighborhood needs stations.
  
  Wedgewood needs consistent clean-up.
  
  Park Hills needs poop stations along paths.
  
  Bluegill Trail is very well taken cared for.Carver Lake's newest residents need to be educated and get reminders.

At the end of the four-hour Woodbury Pet Expo, the Master Water Steward team relaxed and reflected on their achievements. With the support of Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District staff, they had created a low-cost campaign reaching over 84 adults and 45 children at this one-day event.

How can you be a “Doo Gooder?”

1. Be prepared! Always carry poop bags with you.
2. Bring extra bags so you don’t run out or so you can help someone in need.
3. Put the bag in a trash can.
4. Never leave a bag on the trail – there’s nobody designated to pick it up!
5. Pick it up at home (or hire someone to do it) to keep your yard healthy and to protect lakes, stream and wetlands.  

For a copy of the printed materials to use in your own outreach, contact RWMWD at 651-792-7950. 

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[1] “Pollution Prevention Fact Sheet: Animal Waste Collection.”  https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/management/upload/-1570-http___www-stormwatercenter.pdf

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[1] Chin, Richard. “Minnesota’s pet ownership goes to the dogs.” Pioneer Press, 3 Jan. 2013.  

Mystery-of-the-Month - January

By Dave Vlasin

Erosion control measures are necessary even in underground tunnels.







 
What's been happening thirty feet underground this winter?


If you recall, last April we updated you on our Beltline Maintenance and Repair Project. We told you how District and Barr Engineering staff walked and inspected over 38,000 feet of the Beltline and Battle Creek Storm Water Tunnels. To read last year's article, click here.

 


Barr and District staff gathered information and took notes during the 2014-2015 Beltline inspection.



After the initial inspection, Barr employees used what’s called NASSCO (Nation Association of Sewer Service Companies) to put a severity grade on each defect, ranging from 1-5, with 5 being the most severe. These “grades” were averaged over a segment of tunnel which then gave us a better idea of areas that may need more attention. This resulted in roughly 10,000 linear feet of tunnel that RWMWD needs to repair.

Avoiding a waterfall in the tunnel.

After a bidding process, PCi Roads, LLC won the contract. PCi has two years to complete the project and were eager to get started on January 1st. They will continue to work all winter, as long as the cold weather allows. Next winter they will finish any remaining work. 


This type of work is best done in the winter months since everything is frozen and the risk of getting flooded out of the storm water tunnel is greatly reduced. 


PCi has currently prepped about 500 feet and are getting ready to begin filling cracks and complete surface repairs. 




To help you get an idea of what it's actually like to be making repairs in the tunnel, here are some pictures of work that's currently being done thirty feet underground.

PCi prepping the Beaver Lake Branch in January of 2017.



PCi employees working on the Beaver Lake Branch.



PCi cleaning and injecting material into cracks in the tunnel.

Before the spring rains kick us out, we hope to get at least a couple thousand feet completed. 

Enjoy Learning about Nature? Become a Master Naturalist!

By Sage Passi and Cathy Troendle

Bev Blomgren, a Master Naturalist, enjoys learning about nature,
teaching and helping engage citizens of all ages in conservation efforts.

Photo Credit: Bev Blomgren 

If you enjoy exploring nature and are curious about the state's geology, animal life, plants, ecology, water and history, then this program is for you. Any adult who is curious and enjoys learning about the natural world, shares that knowledge with others and supports conservation can be a Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer. 

North St. Paul is the host site for an up-coming series of Big Woods Big River classes for people interested in becoming certified as a Master Naturalist. The course starts in February 2017 and will be held at the new Casey Lake Park building in North St. Paul.

The mission of the Minnesota Master Naturalist Program is to promote awareness, understanding and stewardship of Minnesota's natural environment by developing a corps of well-informed citizens dedicated to conservation education and service within their communities

Each course focuses on one of Minnesota’s three major biomes:
Big Woods, Big River, Prairie and Potholes, and Northwoods, Great Lakes.

The Minnesota Master Naturalist Program is a joint effort of the University of Minnesota Extension and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. In 2012 North St. Paul hosted the 100th course offered by the Master Naturalist program which began in Minnesota in 2005. Since then, North St. Paul has hosted three of these series of classes.


The North St. Paul Master Naturalist Big Woods, Big River Class of 2007

This year's course in North St. Paul includes hands-on classroom activities and two required field trips on Saturday, April 1, and Saturday, April 29, from 8-5 each day. Attendance at all sessions is required. Classes will be held in the new park building at Casey Lake at 2039 17th Avenue East in North St. Paul.

 

Course Instructors:

Beth Girard volunteers at the Raptor
Center and provides programs for the
Minnesota Herpetological Society.

Beth Girard volunteers in the Raptor Center's clinic. She presents programs for the Minnesota Herpetological Society and the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge system. She also volunteers for several herp-related monitoring projects.



Cathy Troendle has been a very active Master Naturalist
leader in Southwood Nature Preserve since 2007.

 
Cathy Troendle’s lifelong passion for nature and working with young people converged in the Master Naturalist Program. Since 2007, Cathy has developed classroom and outdoor programming for grade school students, field days for middle school students, recruited high school students to assist in invasive plant removal in Southwood Nature Preserve, and developed an educational Prairie Days Event for the general public. She has been actively managing a woodland trail restoration, as well as an acre of prairie restoration in Southwood Nature Preserve.

Cathy Troendle organizes a field day for Maplewood Middle School
students each spring at Southwood Nature Preserve.

 

Master Naturalist Deb Armstrong (left) teaches about water critters
with DNR Project Wet educator Janine Kohn (right)
at the wetland in Southwood Nature Preserve.

Participants will work together in groups to complete capstone projects within North Saint Paul once the training is completed.

North St. Paul has been actively managing natural resources in the city including shoreline restoration projects at Silver Lake, the installation of curb-cut rain gardens, the creation of an infiltration pond at Silver Lake and the restoration of 28 acres at Southwood Nature Preserve including woodland, prairie, oak savanna and wetlands.

 

Master Naturalist Deb Armstrong and North High's
Junior ROTC youth work together to remove buckthorn
at Southwood Nature Preserve. To avoid soil disturbance,
they cut and treat each stem individually.

Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District will host one of the field trips for the course. Watershed staff will provide content assistance for several of the classes. RWMWD has been providing support for North St. Paul for many years to improve the water quality at Casey Lake through the removal of carp and the stocking of bluegill, shoreline restoration plantings, aquatic plant management and the building of neighborhood rain gardens in the Casey Lake neighborhood.

The course cost is $275 and includes course materials and supplies. If you are a North St. Paul resident, this cost will be reimbursed once you have completed all coursework and forty hours service to North St. Paul. If the course cost is a hardship for participants, please fill out and submit the scholarship application.

Course Details:

Meeting 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM on Tuesdays: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM on two Saturdays

• Tuesday, February 21
• Tuesday, February 28
• Tuesday, March 7
• Tuesday, March 14
• Tuesday, March 21
• Tuesday, March 28
• Saturday, April 1
• Tuesday, April 4
• Tuesday, April 18
• Tuesday, April 25
• Saturday, April 29
• Tuesday, May 2

To register click on this LINK. For more questions about the program please contact course instructor Cathy Troendle at troendlecathy@q.com or by phone at 651-779-8699.


Take the first step and sign up to become a Master Naturalist this winter.