The Board of Water Soil Resources (BWSR) is charged with allocating clean water project funds appropriated by the State Legislature as a result of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Constitutional Amendment which was approved by voters in 2008. Last month, the BWSR Board approved the allocation of more than $14 million in 2014 Clean Water Fund Competitive Grants. Demand for available funds was great as BWSR received 244 applications requesting almost $52 million.
We are thrilled to announce that we applied for three Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment grants and received all three this year! We received $200,000 for our Casey Lake Neighborhood Stormwater Retrofit project. The purpose of this project is to protect Casey Lake and Kohlman Lake by installing rain gardens on priority properties surrounding Casey Lake. Construction of these rain gardens will begin this summer as we already have several residents interested in having a rain garden on their property. We also received over $100,000 for Commercial Site and School Site Assessments for Best Management Practice (BMP) Retrofit. The purpose of these projects is to identify and assess highly impervious areas within the District for retrofit BMPs that will assist the District in meeting stormwater volume and nutrient reduction goals. This study will help us determine the best locations for BMPs so we can move forward with the installation in the future.
These projects will do wonders for helping us reach our goals of improving water quality in the District. We are excited to be given the chance to move forward with these projects. Without the Clean Water Fund none of these projects could happen!
For information on other awarded projects, please visit the BWSR website: http://bwsr.state.mn.us/cleanwaterfund/
Please visit our website (scroll down on the front page until you see a logo like the one above) for information on current grant projects and make sure to check back to see the progress we’re making with these new grants.