Laker Pioneer
The Minnetrista City Council received an update at its Jan. 22 meeting regarding the long-term strategy and upcoming priorities of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD).
“The watershed district really believes that natural systems underpin local community identity and give it a sense of place, and that when those things are integrated that the watershed’s work is really integral to building thriving communities,” said James Wisker, district administrator.
MCWD’s strategy with Lake Minnetonka is to focus on the largest polluting tributaries into the lake. The Six-Mile Creek Halsted Bay area is located in the upper part of the watershed and the bay is considered impaired for water quality.
In the past, Minnetrista has partnered with the MCWD on the Six Mile Marsh Prairie Restoration project that started in 2012 when MCWD obtained 230 acres of land near Six Mile Creek, the headwaters of the Minnehaha Creek watershed.
MCWD wrapped up the project at the end of 2023, and today, the area encompasses about 124 acres of restored mesic and wet prairie, 79 acres of marsh and open water wetlands, 22 acres of oak savanna, and four acres of oak woodland. MCWD also completed the construction of a permanent pedestrian trail to connect the Six Mile Marsh Prairie to the Dakota Regional Trail and a parking area off Halsted Drive and new interpretive elements were installed throughout the prairie.
By Emma Lohman