Runoff from streets is the most polluted form of runoff in the US. Channel stabilization was implemented in the City of Spicer to keep the pollutants in runoff from entering water bodies. This channel has a series of riffles and pools to help reduce the amount of sediment that eventually reaches Green Lake.

This picture shows the channel stabilization project in Spicer during a rain event. Monitoring after the project was completed has shown a 85.9% reduction in sediment. During general maintenance of the site over the last three years, District staff has removed about 3,000 pounds of sediment by hand. BMP projects like this one, put in over the last six years, that have helped make a difference in protecting lakes for generations to come.

The District is always trying to stress personal responsibility with landowners; everyone can do their part to help protect water quality. To assist landowners in doing activities that can make a difference, the District sponsored a rain barrel program. Rain barrels are a simple way for people to reduce the amount of runoff from their house and in turn use that water in more productive means.

Grit chambers are buried systems that receive stormwater from the catch basins along a curb and gutter road. The stormwater enters the diversion chamber where the weir guides the flow into the unit’s separation chamber. This chamber is where heavy pollutants drop out, removing themselves from the flow. 100% of floatables and neutrally buoyant debris (larger than the chamber’s screen) also become trapped The treated stormwater continues out of the system while the sediment remains. The Grit chamber’s sediment is vacuumed out regularly.