Halsted Bay Watershed Load Management

Overview

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) is exploring a range of nutrient reduction strategies to improve water quality in Halsted Bay on Lake Minnetonka, including a water treatment facility, upstream wetland restorations, and in-lake nutrient reduction treatments, among others. This suite of project opportunities could reduce Halsted Bay’s nutrient load by over 3,000 pounds annually, while improving water clarity, restoring aquatic habitat, and enhancing the recreational value of Halsted Bay and Six Mile Creek. These projects would build on a decade of work to improve water quality, protect natural spaces, and support sustainable development upstream in the Six Mile Creek-Halsted Bay Subwatershed.

Located at the western edge of Lake Minnetonka, Halsted Bay is polluted with high levels of dissolved phosphorus from upstream runoff and groundwater. Initial assessments of Halsted Bay identified that half of the pollution to Halsted Bay comes from Six Mile Creek and the Six Mile Marsh wetland. To meet state water quality standards in Halsted Bay, MCWD and our partners must address the water flowing from Six Mile Creek into Halsted Bay, as well as the internal nutrient loading of the Bay itself.