2015-12-01_PR Comm Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Roseville Parks and Recreation Director Lonnie Brokke looked over the construction site at Upper Villa Park. Years of damage Managing runoff is a critical issue for the urban watershed district, which includes St. Paul, Roseville, Maplewood, Falcon Heights and Lauderdale. When the suburbs were built in the 195os and'6os, stormwater was directed to wetlands and lakes. In the 198os, scientists and city planners started to realize some of the damage it was causing. Polluted runoff is a leading cause of impairment to the nearly 40 percent of surveyed U.S. water bodies that do not meet water quality standards, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. About 42 percent of the land in the Capitol Region watershed is now paved surfaces or rooftops that don't absorb water. "The large amount of runoff coming through the Villa Park wetland system acts like one big funnel. It shoots out into Lake McCarrons," Kelley said. The area provides drainage for 25o acres of the city. He said stormwater reuse projects are the wave of the future, but "one of the biggest challenges in all of our capital improvement projects is finding the land for construction." Drains lead to the river Scientists say such efforts protect the lakes as well as the 2,300 miles of the Mississippi River and beyond. "It's important to realize when it goes down the stormwater drain, it's a direct pipe to the river. In most cases, there is no treatment. It carries a lot of pollution that can impact the river locally and downstream," said Stephanie Johnson, a manager and scientist with the Mississippi Water Management Organization. "We have the benefit of being at the headwaters — this is a really clean river right here," she said. "Downstream there are a lot of problems. There is a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico which the Mississippi River contributes to."