Fish Point Park Retrofits
The Fish Point Park Retrofit project includes three elements: retrofitting an existing ditch section with in-line iron-sand filters, expanding storage capacity and creating wetland upstream of the ditch, and installing a new predictive control structure in the existing berm.
The project was completed through a partnership between the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District (PLSLWD) and the City of Prior Lake and partially funded by a grant from the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR)’s Clean Water Fund program.
Stormwater runoff from over 89 acres of land is funneled through Fish Point Park before it enters Lower Prior Lake, making it an ideal location for a stormwater treatment train. This project includes four elements: a wetland enhancement, a water control structure, a prairie restoration, and an iron-sand filter. Together, these four BMPs work to reduce the amount of phosphorus entering the lake by 34 pounds per year.
Outcomes
The subwatershed in which this project is located was identified as undertreated in the Diagnostic and Feasibility study. By improving the efficiency of the existing treatment train from 35% to an estimated 78%, the overall load to Lower Prior Lake would be reduced by 19 lbs, to 10lbs/year. The three elements in this project will work together to enhance their collective effectiveness, making the overall project benefits greater than the sum of the benefit provided by each part.
The last lake in the Spring and Prior chain of lakes, Lower Prior Lake is a regionally important recreational and ecological resource. Unlike the other two lakes in the chain, it remains off the Impaired Waters list and PLSLWD and the City of Prior Lake want to keep it that way. Given the urban watershed that surrounds this lake, significant actions to reduce untreated stormwater needed to be taken.
Benefits
- Improves water treatment from 35% efficiency to 85% efficiency
- Prevents 34 lbs of Phosphorus from entering the lake each year