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<br />Dan Money, Administrator, Two Rivers Watershed District
<br />Culverts, as everyone knows, come in
<br />many different sizes and shapes, and
<br />are constructed from different materi-
<br />als. Over the years, the culverts along
<br />any given waterway or within any
<br />given drainage area were installed in a
<br />piecemeal fashion. If a Township was
<br />doing the work, they most often put in
<br />a culvert not according to the drainage
<br />area, not according to what size
<br />culverts were in place upstream and
<br />downstream, but according to what
<br />culverts they had available or "laying
<br />around" at the time of the installation.
<br />If a highway department was doing the
<br />work, the culvert was probably sized to
<br />convey water away from the road bed
<br />as quickly as possible, or "the bigger
<br />the better". These activities have
<br />resulted in a vast range of culverts
<br />installed as water drains from upstream
<br />to downstream.
<br />Over the years, this type of culvert
<br />installation has not been the best way
<br />of doing things in terms of drainage,
<br />flood control, erosion control, and even
<br />water quality. Larger culverts installed
<br />in upstream reaches tend to let the
<br />water drain faster and when it reaches
<br />a downstream culvert that happens to
<br />be too small, problems arise as the
<br />water either backs up or goes around
<br />the smaller culvert. This is a common
<br />occurrence throughout the Watershed
<br />District and especially along the
<br />smaller subwatersheds defined by each
<br />coulee system.
<br />This water management problem is
<br />currently being addressed by the Two
<br />Rivers Watershed District. Over the
<br />past two summers, the District has
<br />been working with the Minnesota
<br />Conservation Corps to inventory every
<br />culvert located within a designated 300
<br />square mile coulee system. Informa-
<br />tion collected regarding each culvert
<br />includes the location, size, tape,
<br />direction of flow. flow line elevation
<br />vs. natural ground elevation vs. top of
<br />road elevation, and current condition
<br />Townships inventoried, all in Kittson
<br />County, include all or parts of Nor-
<br />way, Deerwood, Jupiter, Springbrook,
<br />Tegner, Davis, Pelan, and Arveson.
<br />Townships targeted for future inven-
<br />tory efforts include Skane, South Red
<br />River, Teien, and Svea. Eventually the
<br />entire watershed district will be
<br />inventoried.
<br />Once information is known about all of
<br />the culverts in a small watershed,
<br />culverts that are the wrong size or
<br />culverts that are currently causing
<br />problems can be identified. With the
<br />cooperation of townships, landowners,
<br />and road authorities, properly sized
<br />culverts can be installed over a period
<br />of time.
<br />The Two Rivers Watershed District
<br />recommends that each culvert be sized
<br />according to its upstream drainage area
<br />and the ability to pass a 10 year
<br />summer storm event (about a 3.5 inch
<br />rain in a 24 hour period) without
<br />causing damage to crops or infrastruc-
<br />ture. This policy, if applied uniformly
<br />over the entire drainage area of each
<br />watershed and subwatershed, can
<br />potentially provide real benefits in
<br />terms of flood control, drainage,
<br />erosion control, water quality, and
<br />hazard mitigation. Culverts can be
<br />replaced one at a time as the old ones
<br />deteriorate to a point where they are no
<br />longer useful or they can be replaced
<br />as part of a watershed management
<br />plan.
<br />Harley Younggren -November S, 1928 -February 25, 2000
<br />The Two Rivers Watershed District as well as the entire community of Watershed
<br />Districts in Minnesota suffered a great loss with the passing of Hazley Younggren on
<br />February 25 as a result of a heart attack. Hazley was an original member of the Boazd
<br />of Managers of the Two Rivers Watershed District which began operations in October,
<br />1957. He also was an original member of the Red River Watershed Management
<br />Boazd, serving from its inception until his death. In addition, Harley served on the
<br />Minnesota Association of Watershed District's Board of Directors for several years.
<br />His years and years of service provided a vast wealth of knowledge and experience to
<br />the Boards that he was involved with, and he will be dearly missed. Harley's family
<br />and the Two Rig ers Watershed District would like to thank all those who have ex-
<br />pressed condolences through their cards, letters, actions, thoughts, and prayers.
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