New stormwater treatment is in place to benefit the Rum River, thanks to a collaborative effort by the City of St. Francis, ACD, and Upper Rum River Watershed Management Organization (URRWMO). While St. Francis has a strong network of stormwater ponds and other practices, certain areas of the city were built before stormwater treatment became the norm. We are "retrofitting" stormwater treatment into these older neighborhoods. 

The most recent project is a rain garden installed on a city owned out-lot. Stormwater in this residential neighborhood drains directly to the Rum River. The new rain garden has a curbside inlet, allowing water into a basin that filters and infiltrates stormwater. The garden will hold water for no more than 48 hours. It will remove 44% of solids (111lbs/yr) and 46% (0.6 lbs/yr) of phosphorus from a two acre drainage area. The rain garden is planted with native shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers. We are hopeful this project results in other landowners wishing to have a rain garden on their property.

Stormwater runoff from Fridley's Channel Rd. NE neighborhood currently flows to and through the storm sewer network directly to Rice Creek, untreated. This is a common occurrence in well-established neighborhoods built prior to stormwater treatment regulations. However, thanks to collaboration between the City of Fridley, Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD), ACD, and private landowners, this neighborhood with soon be retrofitted with four curb-cut rain gardens designed to reduce water volume and pollutants entering Rice Creek. 

These gardens have been strategically located throughout the neighborhood in order to capture as much runoff as possible. The benefits of infiltrating this stormwater will amount to an estimated reduction of 56,192 cubic feet of water, 3.57 lbs of phosphorus, and 677 lbs of total suspended solids to Rice Creek per year. Each garden will also be densely planted with native forbs, grasses, and shrubs to provide improved water infiltration and pockets of high-quality habitat in a highly developed landscape. 

Funding is provided by the RCWD's water quality cost share program and the City of Fridley. Landowners at each garden site have voluntarily enrolled in this opportunity and have agreed to maintain these gardens to ensure long-term functionality. For more information contact Breanna Keith, Water Resource Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Rain Guardian pretreatment chambers were on display at the 2024 Operations and Maintenance of Stormwater Systems Conference in Austin, TX. The Rain Guardian booth provided conference attendees with an effective solution for bioretention system pretreatment. Conference attendees included stormwater managers, municipal and county government employees, engineers, contractors, and designers. This is the first time Rain Guardians have been on display at a conference in Texas, and many attendees expressed an interest in Rain Guardian products.

See www.RainGuardian.biz for additional information or contact Mitch Haustein, Stormwater & Shoreline Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

"When Development Comes to Town" is an animated video directed toward local decision makers that tackles some of the challenges and opportunities presented by growth in our small communities. Developed by the Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership and East Metro Water Resources Education Program, this fast-paced video runs through a gauntlet of topics in about ten minutes, introducing the viewer to concepts ranging from shoreland ordinances to Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS). This video masterfully weaves together complex insights and downhome practicality with just the right amount of visual interest and is a 'must watch' for new, or even experienced, elected officials, staff and planning commission members for local governments. Click the link and enjoy! When Development Comes to Town

Contact Chris Lord, District Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with questions. 

Street sweeping doesn't just improve the appearance and function of your neighborhood's roads; it's also one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce nutrients, sediment, and other pollutants entering our lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Common materials such as leaves, yard waste, sand, road salt, vehicle fluids, litter, and other debris accumulate in street gutters and have nowhere to go other than down the storm drain and, eventually into local waterways – flushed in by water during snowmelt and storm events.

Many cities complete street sweeping twice per year: once in the spring to remove solids from winter road treatment, and again in the fall to remove fallen leaves. However, gaps in sweeping schedules give these pollutants time to re-accumulate and flush into storm drains (and thus downstream waterbodies) before they can be removed. Increasing the frequency of street sweeping can greatly reduce pollutant loads in stormwater, which is why the Anoka Conservation District has added enhanced street sweeping considerations to its "water quality toolbox".

Enhanced street sweeping analyses combine area-specific information such as tree canopy cover and storm sewer networks with research-based pollutant recovery estimates to improve recommendations for the timing, frequency, and location of street sweeping. This approach has recently been applied in the direct drainage watersheds for Martin and Linwood lakes. 

Find more information about the benefits of street sweeping here: MN Stormwater Manual: Street Sweeping 

ACD Contact: Breanna Keith, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Four rain gardens were installed in a northern Anoka neighborhood as part of the City's 2022 Street Surface Improvement Project. Collectively, these gardens will capture nearly 10 acres' worth of stormwater runoff (over 700,000 gallons annually) which would otherwise drain untreated to the Rum River. Through this, sediment loading to the river will be reduced by 969 pounds/year, and total phosphorus loading will be reduced by 3 pounds/year.

Each garden provides additional ecological benefits through the planting of a diverse range of native species, creating several hundred square feet of rich pollinator habitat within the Rum River corridor. Species planted included butterfly weed, cardinal flower, swamp milkweed, red-osier dogwood, dwarf bush honeysuckle, and several others. 

Construction is complete for six rain gardens at residential lots in the Rice Creek Terrace neighborhood in the City of Fridley. These rain gardens were placed at high priority locations to intercept and treat stormwater before it enters Rice Creek. The locations were identified during a Lower Rice Creek Stormwater Retrofit Analysis conducted by ACD in partnership with the City and the Rice Creek Watershed District. The rain gardens were funded by the RCWD's water quality cost share program and the City of Fridley. Landowners have all agreed to long-term maintenance of the gardens to ensure optimal and continuing stormwater treatment. 

Cumulatively, the six rain gardens are estimated to infiltrate 455,000 gallons of water, as well as remove 605 pounds of sediment and two pounds of phosphorus loading to Rice Creek annually. All six rain gardens are vegetated with native plants to maximize infiltration and provide the co-benefit of pollinator habitat. Additionally, one rain garden is located immediately adjacent to a trail entrance into Locke County Park, providing an excellent public education opportunity.

Over the next two to three years, the native plant plugs will get much bigger, filling the gardens with color and life. To see other rain gardens already installed throughout Anoka County, please see the virtual project tour on ACD's website. See photos of all six new rain gardens above. 

Six rain gardens are being installed at residential lots in the Rice Creek Terrace neighborhood in the City of Fridley. These rain gardens are being placed at high priority locations to intercept and treat stormwater before it enters Rice Creek. The locations were identified during a Lower Rice Creek Stormwater Retrofit Analysis conducted by ACD in partnership with the City and the Rice Creek Watershed District. The rain gardens are being funded by the RCWD's water quality cost share program and the City of Fridley. Landowners have all agreed to long-term maintenance of the gardens to ensure optimal and continuing stormwater treatment. 

Cumulatively, the six rain gardens are estimated to infiltrate 455,000 gallons of water, as well as remove 605 pounds of sediment and two pounds of phosphorus loading to Rice Creek annually. All six rain gardens will be vegetated with native plants to maximize infiltration and provide the co-benefit of pollinator habitat. Additionally, one rain garden will be located immediately adjacent to a trail entrance into Locke County Park, providing an excellent public education opportunity.

Watch for additional updates as construction is finalized. To see other rain gardens already installed throughout Anoka County, please see the virtual project tour on ACD's website. 

Six new rain gardens are being installed this summer in Anoka and Ramsey to benefit the Rum River. The first was highlighted in June. The second is now complete! It is located on Oneida Street in Ramsey.

Each curb-cut rain garden captures water from the neighborhood streets, driveways, roofs and other surfaces. Prior to these projects the stormwater was discharged directly to the Rum River without treatment. Rain gardens are ideal in built-out neighborhoods where space is not available for stormwater ponds or other larger practices. 

  ACD pursues a variety of projects that reduce the amount of untreated stormwater entering our waterways; learn more about these by viewing our interactive projects map here. You can also help reduce the amount of pollutants entering your neighborhood's stormwater by following the practices listed here.

One rain garden and two stormwater pond renovations were completed in November to treat stormwater before it reaches Martin and Coon Lakes. The projects will collectively treat 39 acres of residential development that previously were draining to the lakes with little or no treatment. They will keep 2,100 pounds of sediment and 5 pounds of phosphorus from reaching the lakes each year.

These waterbodies were priorities because both lakes are surrounded by homes and heavily used for recreation. Martin Lake is nearing the criteria for being removed from the State's list of impaired waters. Coon Lake has good water quality but is under pressure.

The rain garden was constructed in cooperation with a residential landowner along Hupp Street. Their property is a key location where drainage from 8 acres converged and entered a catch basin that piped stormwater to Coon Lake. Curb cuts on each side of the catch basin now intercept that water, allowing it to soak into the ground within the rain garden. Pollutant removal is estimated to increase by 52% compared to the pre-project condition. Mulching and planting of the gardens will be delayed until spring 2021 due to cold temperatures early in fall 2020. The property owners will maintain the garden.

The stormwater pond projects are redesigns and renovations of older ponds. Both ponds are on Martin Lakeshore within township-owned property. Both basins had filled with sediment over time and were providing little water quality treatment. Now, the basins are even larger than originally constructed to maximize pollutant removal. Pollutant removal is estimated to increase by 84% and 104%, respectively, at the two ponds. Linwood Township will own and maintain the basins.

These projects are part of a State Clean Water, Land and Legacy grant to the Sunrise River Watershed Management Organization. The Anoka Conservation District is managing the projects. Additional funds remain and will be used for similar projects in 2021.

Collaborators on these projects included the ACD, SRWMO, Martin Lakers Association, Linwood Township, and the City of East Bethel.

By the end of September 2020, both Coon and Martin Lakes will have new treatment of stormwater before that water reaches the lake. Two stormwater ponds at Martin Lake are being renovated. One new rain garden at Coon Lake is being constructed.

The two stormwater ponds already exist on the shores of Martin Lake at 228^th Place and 230^th Avenue (see map). Like a full vacuum cleaner bag, they have captured as much sediment and nutrients as is possible. To call them "ponds" today seems generous. Each will be made deeper than the original design, like replacing an old, full vacuum cleaner bag with an empty, bigger bag. Pollutant removal will be more than 50% greater than when the ponds were originally designed and new. Water reaches the ponds by pipes that capture water from several acres of surrounding neighborhood, including roads.

The rain garden at Coon Lake will capture curbside water that today is piped to Coon Lake without treatment. The curb will be cut creating entrances to the approximately 1 ft deep basin. Sandy soils allow quick infiltration of the water. A special underdrain ensures no standing water. Native plants create a garden appearance. The owner of the property on Channel Lake has agreed to maintain the garden.

Images show project locations and condition of the stormwater ponds before renovation.

Over the last decade the Anoka Conservation District (ACD) has been involved in the design and construction of over 100 rain gardens in Anoka County. While the overwhelming majority fall closer to the 'ideal' end of the spectrum, we've been party to a few on the 'nasty' end as well. Properly functioning rain gardens often go unnoticed because they blend in with other landscape amenities. In contrast, the small fraction of 'nasty' rain gardens get the public's attention with nasty smells and mosquito problems. Rest assured, we've learned from our mistakes, refined our process, corrected the problematic rain gardens, and can confidently say we're now able to avoid the 'nasties'.

The lessons learned over the years have improved every aspect of rain garden location, design, installation, maintenance, and follow-up. These are our suggestions for other organizations designing and installing rain gardens.

When done right, rain gardens are an effective and beautiful method for combating pollution in lakes and streams, replenishing groundwater, and creating pollinator habitat. However, not every property or every homeowner is ideally suited to have a rain garden. While professionals at ACD can assess whether or not a property is a viable candidate, only the homeowner can decide if they are up to the task of maintaining a rain garden.

  Rain gardens have popped up like weeds throughout the Twin Cities over the last decade to mitigate stormwater pollution in lakes, rivers, and streams. Despite their prevalence, the function and purpose of these little curbside gardens remain a mystery for many folks.