Newsroom

Overview MCWD coordinated with the City of Edina and concerned citizens to create a strategy for restoring Pamela Lake and improving water quality in Minnehaha Creek. Pamela Park, a 64-acre city park located in Edina, is home to Pamela Lake and a protected wetland that discharges into Minnehaha Creek. Ultimately MCWD and the City of […]

Overview In an effort to reduce phosphorous levels and improve water quality in Steiger Lake, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) restored a partially drained wetland in Victoria. Now, the wetland is a natural stormwater treatment system for a 250-acre drainage area, and reconnects that water to small ponds throughout the restored area. To ensure […]

Overview In 2012, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) renovated the existing weir at Lake Nokomis. The renovation changed the weir from an inflatable to an adjustable fixed design, a more rigorous and reliable structure that protects the water quality of Lake Nokomis and prevents the introduction […]

Overview As part of a comprehensive effort to restore Minnehaha Creek, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) worked with 16 Edina homeowners to restore approximately 2,000 feet of shoreline with native plants along a residential stretch of Minnehaha Creek. The project transformed the creek’s appearance and the new plantings prevent erosion, catch and filter polluted […]

Overview The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, with the aid of the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Clean Water Partnership (CWP), took on an extensive seven-year initiative to improve water quality throughout the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes. The result was a series of award-winning water quality improvement strategies implemented in some of the Twin Cities’ most- used […]

Overview Building on the success of the Big Island Restoration project, which stabilized shoreline at Orono’s Big Island Park, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) partnered with Three Rivers Park District to restore approximately 1,200 feet of shoreline on Park District land on the north side of Big Island. The project used natural shoreline anchors including […]

Overview In 2006, the City of Orono, the State of Minnesota, and Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) coordinated to buy 56 acres on the east side of Big Island on Lake Minnetonka to return part of the island to a natural state for the public to enjoy. MCWD restored 3,000 feet of severely eroded shoreline […]

Overview When Methodist Hospital approached Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) with a permit application for its new Heart and Vascular Center, both parties recognized opportunities to align goals. This sparked a collaboration between Park Nicollet and MCWD, and the two organizations began to explore how Minnehaha Creek could be celebrated as a focal point of […]

Overview The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD), partnered with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the Minneapolis Veterans Home, the State of Minnesota, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to implement a three-phase, multi-year project to construct a series of improvements at Minnehaha Falls, a site that garners more than 850,000 people each year. […]

Overview In 2015, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) partnered with the City of Hopkins to restore and update Cottageville Park. The park expansion included the addition of a new park shelter, updated play area, community garden, trails, signage, and an underground regional stormwater treatment system. New vegetation along the creek prevents streambank erosion and creates […]

Overview In 2016, Hennepin County carried out road construction on Highway 101/Bushaway Road to add turn lanes and a bicycle/walking path. Highway 101 crosses Lake Minnetonka between Gray’s Bay and Wayzata Bay, so the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) recognized the opportunity to capitalize on the county’s construction work by protecting and improving shoreline along […]

Overview In 2011, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) identified a suite of improvements for Long Lake Creek, which flows from Long Lake to Tanager Lake, and drains into Lake Minnetonka’s Browns Bay. Tanager Lake is designated by the state as impaired for its nutrient concentrations. To improve the Long Lake Creek corridor, MCWD partnered […]