Past Projects

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has been awarding education and innovation grants since 1998. In 2000 the fund was named in memory of local natural resources champion Cynthia Krieg. To explore a sample of the diverse projects funded by the Cynthia Krieg Environmental Stewardship Fund, select from the project types below. You can also download a complete list of funded projects.

Clean-Ups

Trash clean-ups are important (check out our annual Creek Clean Up), but so is keeping leaves and grass clippings from being washed into local lakes, wetlands, and streams. Organic materials carry nitrogen and phosphorus-- nutrients necessary for life-- that in excess cause nuisance algae blooms. Organic clean-ups are a great neighborhood activity that helps prevent pollution from entering our local waters.

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Description

$10,000

Alliance for Sustainability

Coordinated volunteers from 30 neighborhoods/block clubs in Edina, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, and SW Minneapolis to host and organize spring or fall community clean-ups to remove soil, grass clippings, and leaves from streets and storm drains.

$23,750

Freshwater Society

Developed a neighborhood outreach directory, conducted trainings, and facilitated more than 20 organic waste clean-ups with lake and neighborhood associations, local governmental agencies, and other active water organizations.

$2,000

St. Louis Park, Parks and Recreation Advisory Comm.

Involved youth and adult volunteers who walked both sides of the creek in St. Louis Park, clearing litter, trash, and other foreign objects from the banks and bottom of the creek.

Community Education and Activities

Non-point source pollution comes from multiple points. As such, it requires small actions by many people to prevent it. Organizations big and small have qualified for Cynthia Krieg Watershed Stewardship funds for community education and activities designed to inspire, innovate, change behaviors, and improve water quality. Grantees are encouraged to consider how to address excess nutrients, Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), sediment accumulation, pollutants, and non-biodegradable materials.

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Description

$9,675

Fulton Neighborhood Association

Provided education and assistance to neighborhood residents to achieve a decrease in the amount of stormwater runoff, and to improve the water quality of Lake Harriet and Minnehaha Creek using gutter redirection, rain barrels, and rain gardens.

$12,600

Great River Greening

Promoted innovative landscape design and maintenance by developing and holding a series of workshops for professionals and contractors to explain the basic principles and benefits of native plant and natural system design and provide information on how to successfully design, install, and maintain native plantings.

$2,000

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre

Created two summer arts programs,"Art Bus" and "Lake Street Theater Club," for inner city youth. Programs examined watershed protection issues using puppet theater.

 Community Education and Activities Resources:

Demonstration Project

Our urban and suburban environments are “hard-scaped” with roads, houses, driveways, and malls. The less ground for water to soak into, the more that rushes directly to our waters – carrying pollutants to our lakes, wetlands, streams, and rivers. There are many ways to reduce the amount of pollutants that make it to our waters, like raingardens and pervious pavements. Demonstration projects are a great way to share ideas about how we can continue with the same uses of our land, while protecting water quality.

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Summary

$30,000*

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Harvest Your Rain, a permanent demonstration area at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, presents ways to help homeowners return rainwater to the earth via green roofs, rain barrels, and rain gardens in order to reduce the runoff to municipal stormwater systems..

$30,000*

Bachman's Inc.

Constructed the following exhibits at their Lyndale Avenue Garden Center: rain gardens, permeable pavers, rain barrel, green roof, and aquatic plants. The purpose was to educate the public on the problems associated with stormwater runoff and what can be done on a residential scale to mitigate these problems. Each display was an accurate representation of how a homeowner could build or install one of these solutions in their own yard and explained the benefits of doing so.

$7,323

Great River Greening

Landscaped a four-unit apartment building to transform it from turf grass and impermeable paving into a site where stormwater is treated on-site with a variety of low-cost infiltration practices and native plantings. The project was installed by volunteers and design/results of monitoring are made available as an online resource.

$20,000

Western Henn. County Pioneers Assn.

Due to Highway 12 construction, there was a need to upgrade the WHCPA building in Long Lake with an addition and site work, including a parking. As part of the upgrade, WHCPA installed a green parking lot and interpretive signage. The sign explains the technology of the parking lot, the need for stormwater management, and the natural resources features on the site.

 *As of 2011, funds are limited to $25,000 per project.

Demonstration Project Resources:

Educational Material Development

Thanks to the efforts of stormwater professionals’ raingardens, swales, and pervious pavements are terms that more of the public are getting to know. But stormwater systems and the biology of invasive species are items that many don’t often see, recognize or understand. Organizations come to the Cynthia Krieg Watershed Stewardship fund to change that. Interpretive signage on parks and properties that tell you about the history or the restoration are a great way for people to make a connection to these items – and in a more meaningful way. Brochures, fliers, and other education materials also can be important to providing the basic understanding of an environmental problem. Helping people recognize and understand the impacts we have on nature are important to foster the sort of inspiration needed to change behaviors and protect water quality.

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Summary

$5,000

Lake Minnewashta Preservation Association

Provides onsite education about zebra mussels to boat launchers and lake residents. This was partnered with increased inspection activities. 

$5,000

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Installed interpretive signage in the Green Heron Pond area to describe how wetlands support plant and animal life; how a wetland’s ability to filter water is affected by activities upstream; and positive actions visitors can take to improve water quality. 

$4,500

Kenny Community School

Developed and installed permanent educational signs for the Kenny school rain gardens; development and printing of teacher guides, and printing and mailing of an informational flyer/invitation to neighborhood households.

 Educational Video

 Today, video provides a unique opportunity to chronicle threats to water quality. They can come in the forms ranging from the easily shareable – and often entertaining -- 3-minute YouTube videos to full length documentaries that provide deeper understanding. The Cynthia Krieg Watershed Stewardship fund has given creative and passionate water management people and groups the opportunity to provide a series of educational resources -- and alert others about important issues.

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Summary

$4,600

Carver County Water Management Organization

Used a contest to solicit ideas and create a short, entertaining education video discussing aquatic invasive species and demonstrating how to do a boat inspection.

$12,788

Minnesota Erosion Control Association

Produced video clips demonstrating erosion and sediment control practices and MCWD water quality improvement projects  to be included on a web-based searchable virtual tour

$3,000

Central State Water Environment Association - Minnesota Section

Produced a 30-minute documentary film on the “sustainability of our water infrastructure assets.” The goal is to raise awareness about Minnesota’s critical water infrastructure (drinking water, wastewater and stormwater) and the need to invest in it.

$11,470

Institute on the Environment

Coordinated a team of University of Minnesota students, faculty, and local professionals to produce a film about citizen-based efforts to improve water quality in Powderhorn Lake. Community screenings provided multiple perspectives, increased participation, and promoted watershed stewardship.

K-12 Watershed Education

Teachers are using raingardens, near-by wetlands, and local waters to teach their students about science and water quality. Through Cynthia Krieg Watershed Stewardship Fund, teachers have developed new curriculum and projects that are partnered with a stormwater best management project or natural area and directly involve the students.

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Summary

$23,800

Hamline University's Center for Global Environmental Education

Developed and produced a Minnehaha Creek Watershed Companion, a dynamic community resource that tells the Minnehaha Creek story, illuminates ways its water quality can be improved and protected through examples and stories collected by student-teacher groups within the District.

$12,100

Hilltop Elementary School

Provided for curriculum development and educational opportunities for K-5 students to participate in various activities that show how erosion affects landforms; how invasive species can affect the ecosystem; and how water quality can affect the ecology of the natural environment.

$20,000

Minneapolis Public Schools District #1

Began raingarden maintenance and educational programming at several schools in Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. The intent of this project was to create opportunities to integrate existing science curriculum with school rain gardens, and to tie classrooms to rain gardens in an effort to establish an ongoing maintenance regime for rain gardens on school district property.  

$1,372.75

Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis

Students visited Robert's Bird Sanctuary to learn about the connections between water quality, habitat, and the presence or absence of wildlife. Activities included bird watching and learning about invasive plants with senior citizens as their guides.

K-12 Watershed Education Resources:

EPA’s Education curriculum and activities materials

Stream Monitoring

Thanks to the establishment of Hennepin County’s River Watch Volunteer Monitoring and Carver County’s Volunteer Stream Monitoring Partnership, the Cynthia Krieg Watershed Stewardship fund there have been fewer stream monitoring projects. Below are some examples of earlier projects. If you have a new or innovative idea, we’d like to hear from you. Contact us. 

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Summary

$2,000

Hennepin Conservation District

Provided opportunities for high schooland college students to participate in stream monitoring and to gather data on the water quality of Minnehaha Creek and its tributaries. In addition, schools had the opportunity to design their own stewardship project or participate in one of Hennepin Conservation District’s stewardship projects. All participating schools were provided equipment, training, and supervision.

$2,000

Minnetonka Public Schools

Gathered data on water quality by collecting macroinvertebrates via HesterDendy collectors, testing water samples for nitrates and dissolved oxygen levels, lead discussions on youth stewardship, and practiced youth stewardship by the distribution of educational flyers to property owners in the Minnehaha Creek watershed in neighborhood areas as well as off campus sites.

$241.40

Park Valley Catholic School

Made the students aware of the similarities and differences between natural and man-made ponds, and observed the seasonal changes through weekly fall and spring visits. Water samples were collected, brought back to the classrooms, and tested for pH, sulfate, sulfite, and ammonia levels. Pond life was identified through field guides.

Workshops and Trainings

After educational programs, the next step is often workshops and trainings. They go beyond merely providing information and bring together concerned individuals to learn and share ideas and take action. They are another great way to teach and train others on practices to protect and provide clean water.  To qualify for Cynthia Krieg Stewardship Funds, workshops and trainings must involve water quality education and nonpoint source pollution, the pollution that results from land use change from natural conditions to a suburban and urbanized environment.

Funding Amount

Grantee/Organization

Project Summary

$3,000

Armatage Montessori School

Joined Armatage students, families, and community in a partnership with Metro Blooms to reduce storm water runoff in the subMinnehaha Creek watershed area. This goal was realized through water stewardship education and the installation of school and community rain gardens.

$20,000

Hamline University's Center for Global Environmental Education

Coordinated teacher leaders to educate and create awareness among students and the community about causes, effects, and remedies of nonpoint source pollution. Funding supported educators’ participation in the River Institute; facilitated field activities; and supported an educators’ network with access to resources that advance watershed stewardship.

$1,027

Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group

Increased awareness of storm water runoff and non-point source pollution among residents in the Field, Regina, and Northrop neighborhoods of Minneapolis. Two educational workshops were planned in addition to a storm drain stenciling project.

$20,000

Metro Blooms

Metro Blooms held Rain Garden Workshops to educate thousands of residents within the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District about how to protect local water resources by constructing rain gardens. In 2009 Metro Blooms partnered with Hennepin County and the workshop host cities of Minneapolis, Shorewood, Victoria, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, Plymouth, and Hopkins.

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