Painter Creek Feasibility Study

Who We Are

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District is a local unit of government responsible for managing and protecting the water resources in one of the largest and most heavily-used urban watersheds in Minnesota.

The watershed stretches 178-square miles from St. Bonifacius to south Minneapolis and includes Lake Minnetonka, the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha Creek, and Minnehaha Falls. It includes eight major creeks, 129 lakes, and thousands of wetlands. Learn more about the watershed.

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About the subwatershed

The Painter Creek subwatershed is located along the northwestern boundary of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD or District) and within the cities of Medina, Orono, Maple Plain, Independence, and Minnetrista. The subwatershed includes Painter Creek, Katrina Lake, Thies Lake, large areas of undisturbed or low-density development (including Baker Park Reserve), and numerous wetlands. The upper subwatershed drains to Katrina Lake, which is the headwater of Painter Creek. Painter Creek, which is comprised mainly of ditches through large wetland and marsh areas connected by relatively short reaches of channel with forested banks, flows 6.2 miles to Jennings Bay.

Painter Creek conveys high phosphorus and sediment loads to Jennings Bay. The ecological integrity of Painter Creek is limited by its low gradient, water quality, and the numerous wetlands through which the stream flows. Little information is available regarding water quality in Katrina Lake or Thies Lake. Numerous high-value wetlands are present in the subwatershed.

Read the Painter Creek Subwatershed Plan from the MCWD Watershed Management Plan.

Featured Project

Cottageville Park expansion

City(ies): Hopkins
Subwatershed: Minnehaha Creek Subwatershed
Status: Completed

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Painter Creek Feasibility Study

Subwatershed:

Painter Creek Subwatershed

Project Type:

Studies

Project Status:

Active

About this project:

In 2004, MCWD completed a Feasibility Study for the Painter Creek Subwatershed to assess the methods available to restore water quality to Jennings Bay and its tributary area. Following the completion of this work the District engaged in discussions with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), who expressed interest in partnering on an ecosystem restoration project for this area. The USACE completed a Draft Painter Creek Feasibility Study in 2010, under Section 206 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996. Through this study the USACE identified four potential major wetland restorations within the subwatershed. Most recently in April 2017, MCWD and USACE executed an agreement to update the real estate, environmental compliance and cost engineering sections within the feasibility study.

The Draft Painter Creek Feasibility Study from 2010 attached below provides for more information. The file is large and may take a few minutes to load.

Informational Materials: