The Clearwater River Watershed District will oftentimes partner with landowners and/or various entities to produce a result that furthers the District's mission. Listed below are examples of activities the District has partnered in. The CRWD is always looking for various ways to partner with others who are working towards promoting, preserving, and protecting water resources, as well as assisting District residents. Please contact the District office to discuss ideas.
Grass Waterway above Lake Caroline
In 2010, the Clearwater River Watershed District partnered with a local landowner along with the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, to install grassed waterways in a agricultural field that suffered from erosion cased by runoff from rain events. The District contributed $5,000.00 towards the cost of installation of the grassed waterways, which serve to correct the erosion issue, keeping the sediment and nutrient-laden runoff from entering Lake Caroline. Check out the photos on the right hand side of this page to see what the grassed waterways look like.
Clearwater River Channel Stabilization (CCM Riparian) Project
In 2010, 2011, and 2012, the Clearwater River Watershed District pursued and won a grant with the Conservation Corps of Minnesota to provide work crews for a streambank restoration and channel stabilization project in the upper reaches of the Clearwater River. The District sought and received landowner approval to conduct this work on private land (most of the land along the Clearwater River is privately held). To learn more about this project, click here.
Forest Prairie Township Road Ditches 650th Ave & 355th Street
In 2012, the District was approached by the Forrest Prairie Township Board asking for assistance in making repairs and modifications to the western and northern ditches along 650th Ave and 355th Street. During large rain events, water in these two ditches would sometimes overtop the road, causing large quantities of sediment and road material to wash down into the Geislinger/Nistler Basin. This continued action would significantly decrease the life of the basin, and could potentially cause water quality issues in Clear Lake.
There were two main causes for this: one, the two ditches were full of sediment, and two, the culvert running under 650th Ave was not large enough to handle the drainage during large rain events. To rectify this issue, the District partnered with Forest Prairie by providing financial assistance to clean out the ditches and reshape them so they could handle more water. By doing so, the overall velocity of water flowing though these ditches is lessened, leading to less scouring. The township replaced the culvert with a larger model, and also placed an overflow culvert to protect the roads from washing out in large rain events. Check out the photos on the right hand side of this page.
On top of this, the owner of the field which lies along the two ditches made modifications to his field so that drainage entering the ditches would be more controlled and less likely to contribute sediment from field runoff.
There were two main causes for this: one, the two ditches were full of sediment, and two, the culvert running under 650th Ave was not large enough to handle the drainage during large rain events. To rectify this issue, the District partnered with Forest Prairie by providing financial assistance to clean out the ditches and reshape them so they could handle more water. By doing so, the overall velocity of water flowing though these ditches is lessened, leading to less scouring. The township replaced the culvert with a larger model, and also placed an overflow culvert to protect the roads from washing out in large rain events. Check out the photos on the right hand side of this page.
On top of this, the owner of the field which lies along the two ditches made modifications to his field so that drainage entering the ditches would be more controlled and less likely to contribute sediment from field runoff.