To accomplish the District’s mission of protecting and preserving water quality in the watershed, assistance is provided to landowners and municipalities for the installation of best management practices (BMPs). These BMPs are ways to improve water quality, control erosion, and improve land productivity. To encourage property owners to implement BMPs, the District provides educational opportunities in addition to technical and financial assistance. Examples of eligible projects include: shoreland and stream restorations, raingardens, wetland restorations, buffer strips, animal exclusion, and more.

One way to understand the cumulative impact of BMPs installed by the District is to quantify their effect on water quality. Across the entire Middle Fork Crow River Watershed, 50 BMPs have been installed. These BMPs decrease the amount of phosphorus entering the watershed by more than 208 pounds per year and sediment by nearly 300 tons per year. One pound of phosphorus can support up to 500 pounds of algae. This reduction of phosphorus prevented 103,930 pounds of algae from growing in the watershed. The 50 BMPs include four agricultural BMPs, seven raingardens, 25 shoreland restorations, six stream restorations, eight stormwater BMPs, and 108 rain barrels.

BMPs that the District have implemented can be seen below. If you have any questions or would like more information, contact the MFCRWD staff.

Take a look at some of our current and completed BMPs: