1996-10-24_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

ioenieerin continued from page 1. from the pond. Several erosion problems .were identified by staff from the HCD and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Money from the Conservation Partners Grant Program is now being used to solve many of these problems. Structural and bioengineering techniques are currently being employed on the site. Coir rolls, facines, mulch blankets and live shrub and tree stakes are being installed where stream and spring flow are undercutting the steep banks and transport- ingsand into the stream. Rock filled gabion baskets will be ,placed at the head of the stream to help stabilize the grade and to catch sediment before its entrance into the stream. Due to the fragile nature of the site, steep grades and limited access hand labor is primarily being .used. .During spring and ealy summer, Scouts, Sentence, to Serve, Minnesota Conservation Corp, Izaak Walton League, NRCS, and HCD personnel have all pitched in to install the coir rolls, biomat slope protection and live stakes. This fall additional live stakes and vegetation will be transplanted along the installed coir rolls and into the biomat. Plantings will also be installed along the riparian edge of the stream to complete most of the project this year. In the spring of 1997, the rock filled gabions will be put into place completing the project and helping in the long term protection of this valuable resource in Hennepin County. Erosion abatement and habitat enhancement will be the major accomplishments of the project. Reduction of sediment load will. make it possible to complete habitat improvement projects on the stream. This improvement should also increase the educa- tional opportunities of the Center for schools, teach- ers and organizations. Anyone interested in, or wishing additional information regarding the Trout Stream Restoration Project in Bloomington orbioengineering techniques for controlling erosion should contact the Hennepin Conservation District at 544-8572. The HCD is involved in a variety of monitoring projects including stream water, lake bf ~, ' ~~ ,~ ~' water, and ground water. The ~I ~ - pictureshown is of a recently ~ ----~~. installed tipping bucket rain '~~ ;,> gauge, which along with other ~ ~ ~' ? ~-. rain gauge sites in the Elm - " .~ Creek watershed, will provide _ _ - ~- hydrologic data that will cor- relatewith surface and ground water data. This data will enable a better understanding of the Elm Creek water- shed and may relate to future planning. A feature of this rain gauge is its ability to measure snow melt. A factory installed heater and a secondary heating system melts the snow and allows the gauge to function in the same manner as when the temperature is above freezing. HCD staff received excellent tech- nical support from the rain gauge manufacturer and believe our redesigned heater will work in all but the harshest Minnesota weather. A local supplier enthusi- asticallyhelped in resolving aprevious heater problem and is as anxious as we are in seeing the results of our efforts. The means by which data is stored is the function of a datalogger. This device is in close proximity to the rain gauge and is accessible through the use of a laptop computer on a (approximately) monthly basis. This particular attribute, although not in use on every HCD rain gauge, greatly reduces the necessary staff time needed to operate and maintain each location. Afterthe data is downloaded, it is exported to an electronic spread sheet where it can be sorted by hour, day, month, or year depending on need. Along with using this data for managing the two watersheds we serve, this information is forwarded to the state climatologists office. Our data, as well as data from other parts of the state, can be accessed through the Internet. Hennepin Conservation District 2