South Washington Watershed District

Watershed Management Plan Update 2026-2035

Who is SWWD?

The fact is, in SWWD, you’re never more than a mile away from a body of water.

Take the tour below to learn more about some of the natural resources and projects that are here for you to enjoy.

Glacial Valley Park

This is the site of the SWWD’s conservation corridor and the result of two decades of effort to restore 250 acres of farmland to prairie and oak savanna, which provide wildlife habitat and protect surrounding neighborhoods from flooding. The area has become a community and regional hub—connecting some of the trail systems between Cottage Grove Ravine Park and the Lake Elmo Park Preserve.

Trout Brook restoration

SWWD has been working to restore Trout Brook, altered over the past several decades by area development. The restoration project has included restoring stream meanders, reconnecting the stream with its historic floodplain, adding rock and woody riffles, and replacing culverts to improve fish passage. These efforts have been rewarded by the return of trout to the stream and the reduction of sediment and nutrients discharging to Lake St. Croix.

Afton State Park

This park’s rugged terrain offers majestic oaks and delicate prairie flowers. Trails pass through restored prairie, deep ravines, grassy ridgetops, and bluffs overlooking the St. Croix River. Trout have been reintroduced to Trout Brook, which flows through the park.

Edgewater Park at Colby Lake

This is a 10-acre neighborhood park on Colby Lake in Woodbury with trails through natural landscapes. Enjoy lake views and recreating around one of the largest urban lakes within the District.

Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park

A 515-acre park with hills and heavily wooded ravines creates a wide variety of habitats and viewing experiences. A portion of the SWWD’s Central Draw Storage and Overflow project runs through this park. The project provides flood control for northern watersheds within the District.

Grey Cloud Park Boat Launch

A boat launch in the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in Cottage Grove provides residents with access to the backwaters of the Mississippi River and lots of recreation opportunities, including fishing and birdwatching. Mooers Lake is also the downstream end of the SWWD’s Grey Cloud restoration project, which restored flow to this historic, Mississippi meander—improving water quality and fish passage.

Grey Cloud Dunes Scientific and Natural Area

This is a 237-acre protected area of dry prairie on two crests above the Mississippi River in Cottage Grove. Rare bird species can be found here.

St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park

A wide variety of landscapes comprise these 579-acres. With 3,800 feet of shoreline along the St. Croix, the park now offers a boat launch to increase access to the “wild and scenic” river.

Glacial Valley Park

This is the site of the SWWD’s conservation corridor and the result of two decades of effort to restore 250 acres of farmland to prairie and oak savanna, which provide wildlife habitat and protect surrounding neighborhoods from flooding. The area has become a community and regional hub—connecting some of the trail systems between Cottage Grove Ravine Park and the Lake Elmo Park Preserve.

Trout Brook restoration

SWWD has been working to restore Trout Brook, altered over the past several decades by area development. The restoration project has included restoring stream meanders, reconnecting the stream with its historic floodplain, adding rock and woody riffles, and replacing culverts to improve fish passage. These efforts have been rewarded by the return of trout to the stream and the reduction of sediment and nutrients discharging to Lake St. Croix.

Afton State Park

This park’s rugged terrain offers majestic oaks and delicate prairie flowers. Trails pass through restored prairie, deep ravines, grassy ridgetops, and bluffs overlooking the St. Croix River. Trout have been reintroduced to Trout Brook, which flows through the park.

Edgewater Park at Colby Lake

This is a 10-acre neighborhood park on Colby Lake in Woodbury with trails through natural landscapes. Enjoy lake views and recreating around one of the largest urban lakes within the District.

Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park

A 515-acre park with hills and heavily wooded ravines creates a wide variety of habitats and viewing experiences. A portion of the SWWD’s Central Draw Storage and Overflow project runs through this park. The project provides flood control for northern watersheds within the District.

Grey Cloud Park Boat Launch

A boat launch in the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in Cottage Grove provides residents with access to the backwaters of the Mississippi River and lots of recreation opportunities, including fishing and birdwatching. Mooers Lake is also the downstream end of the SWWD’s Grey Cloud restoration project, which restored flow to this historic, Mississippi meander—improving water quality and fish passage.

Grey Cloud Dunes Scientific and Natural Area

This is a 237-acre protected area of dry prairie on two crests above the Mississippi River in Cottage Grove. Rare bird species can be found here.

St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park

A wide variety of landscapes comprise these 579-acres. With 3,800 feet of shoreline along the St. Croix, the park now offers a boat launch to increase access to the “wild and scenic” river.

Land Use

Over the past several decades, we've seen considerable growth and urban development within portions of the watershed. Many agricultural and rural landscapes have been urbanized. With that change has come an increase in impervious cover, which creates more stormwater runoff and reduces recharge into our aquifers. We’ve also lost trees, which remove pollutants from air, soil, and water and mitigate the impact of climate change by cooling surrounding areas.

Still, as of 2020, about 30% of the District remained devoted to agriculture. While we expect more development through 2040, our rural roots will remain. Understanding that the health of our water and lands are linked, we’ll be looking at ways to influence both as we move forward in the next 10 years.

Make a selection below to view that year's land use data on the map.

While our landscape and community needs may differ across the District, many of the natural and water resources challenges that we face are similar: excess nutrients, chlorides, bacterial contamination, preservation of critical habitat, and groundwater conservation and protection.

Depending on where you are in the watershed and the natural resources that are closest to you, the way we’re working to address these challenges may look different.

In our rural communities, the District partners with the Washington Conservation District and the Lower Saint Croix Watershed Partnership (LSCWP) to provide technical assistance and support to area farmers on best practices for improved soil health and increased field resiliency to weather extremes.

Watch this video to learn more about LSCWP’s efforts in 2023.

Check out  our website  to see some of the other projects that we’ve recently completed.

Moving forward, where are we focused in our work?

With so many water resources and natural areas in the watershed, there are plenty of needs to address. As we launch into the planning for our next 10 years, there are at least five priority areas that we know we will be focused on. Let’s take a look at those:

  • The Changing Climate
  • Chloride Pollution
  • Protecting Our Groundwater
  • Operations and Maintenance
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

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The Changing Climate

The changing climate, with its precipitation and temperature extremes, brings a host of challenges to the SWWD. Drought can devastate crops and strain aquifers. Excess precipitation can bring flooding and streambank and field erosion. Temperature extremes increase demands on groundwater supplies and stress both infrastructure and vulnerable citizens.  

The Changing Climate

Warming impacts our plant communities and fosters expanded growing seasons, which when combined with nutrient-rich waters can contribute to increased algal blooms. Increased temperatures can also allow invasive species to expand their range into habitats that were formerly too cool.

The Changing Climate

The SWWD has been focused on increasing resiliency to these stressors for nearly a decade. In 2017, the District engaged its communities and citizens in developing a Climate Resiliency Plan. Actions and strategies resulting from that plan include: 

  • Using District capital improvement funds to assist cities in adapting infrastructure to increase resiliency.
  • Promoting the use of alternative landscapes that require less water.
  • Promoting water reuse to reduce dependence on aquifers.
  • Working with local partners to improve the delivery of soil conservation programs to prevent increased field erosion.

The Changing Climate

The District’s Campus Greening program is part of our effort to increase climate resiliency. This program is a partnership between the SWWD and Washington County Public Schools that converts underutilized turf areas to native plantings and trees. Using deep-rooted plants to replace turf grass requires less water for irrigation and reduces stormwater runoff through improved infiltration. Planting trees also reduces stormwater runoff and helps decrease urban heat island impacts.

The Changing Climate

In addition to advancing SWWD’s goals related to more resilient landscapes, the program also connects students to science concepts and promotes environmental stewardship through classroom activities—a win-win for both students and the environment. 

The Changing Climate

As we continue to work on climate issues and update our 10-year plan, we’re relying on information from the  Fifth National Climate Assessment , published in 2023. This assessment projects that changes in climate will continue, requiring innovative and integrated solutions as we work to respond.

Chloride Pollution

Chloride pollution is a growing concern within SWWD’s waters. Where does it come from? The source is primarily salt used to de-ice roads and sidewalks. When snow melts, that salt runs into storm drains and then to lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwater.  

Chloride Pollution

High amounts of chloride can be toxic to fish, plants, and wildlife and contaminate the groundwater we rely on for drinking. It only takes one teaspoon of salt to pollute five gallons of water. And, once in the water, there is no way to remove it.

Chloride Pollution

Many of SWWD’s waters still have relatively low chloride concentrations. However, chloride levels have been trending upward at  Ravine Lake  and  Armstrong Lake  over the last 20 years. Studies show that a primary source of chloride in Ravine Lake is polluted groundwater.

Chloride Pollution

SWWD is combatting chloride pollution by helping our cities upgrade their equipment to use “smart salting” practices.

Protecting Our Groundwater

Groundwater is a vital resource in the District. Washington County relies on it for drinking water, irrigation, and agricultural and industrial uses. Groundwater is replenished or “recharged” by rain, snowmelt, and surface water seeping through the soil to our aquifers. In southern Washington County, many of our surface and groundwater resources are closely or even directly connected. This can make our groundwater susceptible to pollution from activities that occur on the landscape or, conversely, make waterbodies susceptible to pollution contained within the groundwater.

Protecting Our Groundwater

At SWWD we’re working hard to protect our groundwater resources. It starts with implementing best management practices—capturing and infiltrating stormwater, allowing it to soak back into the ground and recharge groundwater. We’re also careful about where we infiltrate. In some areas, stormwater can carry dissolved pollutants that migrate to underlying groundwater or mobilize pollutants that are already there.

Protecting Our Groundwater

Education is an important part of our work. We work with cities, project developers, and residents to provide information on best practices to protect native plant communities, encourage healthy soils, and conserve water.

Recently we’ve been working with the cities of Woodbury and Cottage Grove on their smart irrigation controller program, which provides discounted water-saving controllers to residents.

We also encourage cities to include groundwater protection as part of their stormwater permitting programs.

Protecting Our Groundwater

We know that protecting groundwater is vital to our residents. For that reason, groundwater contamination by PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) has become a significant concern. These “forever chemicals” do not break down in the natural environment and have been found in both the District’s groundwater and surface water.

Over the past several years, SWWD has been collaborating with state and local water resources partners working to address PFAS contamination. As part of our plan update process, we’ll be considering how SWWD’s programs can best continue to support Minnesota’s larger efforts to tackle this ever-evolving challenge.

Increasing Operations and Maintenance Needs

SWWD encourages the use of native plants for resilient landscapes. These plantings require maintenance to thrive. In addition, poorly maintained vegetation can lead to soil erosion, contributing to water quality issues. The SWWD oversees the maintenance of native vegetation for several of our projects.

Increasing Operations and Maintenance Needs

Another aspect of operations and maintenance is attending to leaves and other street debris that gets washed into storm sewers—along with pollutants—and ends up in area waterbodies. The SWWD has been partnering with our cities to perform “enhanced” street sweeping in areas prioritized for water quality protection. This practice not only protects the environment, it also extends the life of paved roads and paths.

Increasing Operations and Maintenance Needs

As we move into our new Plan, we’ll be continuing to think about how we can support our cities in operating and maintaining stormwater practices—whether it’s providing maintenance for additional native vegetation areas or helping fund equipment that removes pollutants from our stormwater system.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We recognize that access to the natural resources throughout our district and our residents’ priorities about how to manage them vary across the district. Heading into our plan update, our goal is to hear from a diverse set of voices representing all of our residents.

If you live in the SWWD, we have lots of questions for you.

  • Which water and natural resources in our District are most important to you?
  • Do you feel you have access to those resources?
  • How do you typically interact with them?
  • What water and natural resource challenges are of most concern to you?
  • How are you impacted by those challenges?

As part of our plan update, we’ll be working to ensure SWWD’s programs are best aligned to serve all our residents. Your input will help us do that.

Community Workshops

In 2024, we hosted two community workshops to gather feedback on the natural resource management topics that are most pressing to our communities—and where SWWD residents would like to see us focus our attention over the next 10 years.

Here's what we heard:

Key Challenges

  • Loss of ecologically beneficial landscape features due to development (e.g., loss of trees, conversion of native prairie to lawns, loss of wetlands, loss of native vegetation).
  • Surface water and groundwater contamination from pollutants including PFAS and chloride.
  • Poor stormwater practices by homeowner associations and other landowners (e.g., lack of maintenance, excessive groundwater use).

Key Actions

  • Landowner education and engagement to promote ecologically healthy behaviors.
  • Stronger regulations and enforcement for development.
  • Increased coordination with land-use-planning authorities to preserve natural resources and build climate resilience.
  • Grants for native vegetation or other conservation practices.

These workshops may be over, but the conversation is ongoing. Read on to see how you can offer your input.

We'd love to hear from you

We’re kicking off efforts to update our plan now, so this is a perfect time to let us know what you think.  Use this link  to answer 10 quick questions about the lakes, rivers, and wetlands near you. Then sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of the survey to be sure you receive the latest news.

The draft Plan will be issued in 2025 and finalized in 2026.

Credits

Photos provided by Sarah Lilja ( http://sarahlilja.photography ), South Washington Watershed District, Washington Conservation District, and Barr Engineering Co.

Story Map content created by SWWD, WCD, and Barr Engineering Co.