The Upper Watkins Wetland Isolation Project was added to the project in 1983. Formerly, untreated wastewater from a cheese plant discharged into the Upper Watkins Wetland. This transformed the wetland from a nutrient trap (its natural state) into a nutrient source – in fact, the largest nutrient source in the entire watershed. The project diverts runoff and channel flow around the edge of the wetland and includes more than 11,000 feet of isolation dikes and channels plus overflow structures and ditch crossings. The estimated expense of this project was $460,000 and it was completed in late 1984. It has resulted in a phosphorus load reduction of approximately 30,000 pounds annually.
View Watkins Wetland Treatment System