The following is a replica of Angie Hong's article published in her "East Metro Water" blog, and in the Valley Life newsletter:
After twenty years of community advocacy, public investment, scientific research, and targeted project implementation, Lily Lake in Stillwater achieved a major milestone this year when it was officially removed from the State of Minnesota’s Impaired Waters List.
On Friday, September 30, 5:00-7:30pm Friends of Lily Lake will celebrate this return to clean water with a family-friendly community event at Lily Lake Park. The event will include food, music, roasted s’mores over a campfire, and kids nature activities. There will also be a short program at 6:00pm to officially commemorate the de-listing of Lily Lake. The event is free and open to all.
Friends of Lily Lake (2018) gather to discuss ways to restore Lily Lake to good health.
“Historically, Lily Lake was a local and regional gem,” says Matt Downing, who serves as administrator for the Middle St. Croix Watershed Management Organization (WMO). “Over time, as Stillwater grew and became more developed, however, water quality went downhill.”
In the 1950’s, Lily Lake was considered a local gem with a swimming beach and crystal clear water.
When commercial and residential neighborhoods surrounding Lily Lake were constructed, it was standard practice to direct storm drains straight into lakes and rivers without treating the water first. As a result, this formerly pristine lake began to accumulate sediment, nutrients, litter, and debris from the surrounding watershed. By 2002, algae blooms were common and phosphorus levels in the water had climbed so high that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency deemed Lily Lake to be officially impaired.
In 2006, the City of Stillwater and Middle St. Croix WMO set a goal of reducing phosphorus flowing into Lily Lake by 145 pounds per year to prevent harmful algal growth and improve water clarity. Over the past 16 years, the city and WMO have worked together to implement dozens of lake-improvement projects, including stabilizing eroding gullies, redesigning the city-owned boat launch with porous pavers and native plants, installing raingardens in surrounding neighborhoods, and retrofitting parking lots and stormwater ponds in commercial areas.
A shoreline planting near the lake is just one of dozens of water quality improvement projects installed near Lily Lake over the past 20 years.
“The Lily Lake delisting has been a massive multi-year, multi stakeholder project — both public and private — that took thousands of hours of collaboration and outreach to reach this point,” says Bryan Pynn, a watershed restoration specialist who helped to design numerous projects installed by the Middle St. Croix WMO and Washington Conservation District. “Clean Water Funds from the state have been instrumental to funding stormwater reduction projects. These grants have also helped the WMO to engage more community partners and create a larger visual presence in the watershed.”
Without a doubt, community engagement has been the key to success in Lily Lake’s restoration story. In Stillwater, the city and private landowners have constructed 336 raingardens and more than 100 additional clean water projects. Volunteers have adopted 235 storm drains and also help to care for neighborhood raingardens on city streets. Friends of Lily Lake and Sustainable Stillwater engage volunteers for planting projects, buckthorn removal, and community clean-up events. Most recently, Friends of Lily Lake has led a community visioning process to think about what Lily Lake might look like in the future and how the community will use and interact with the lake.
Community residents in Stillwater have adopted 235 storm drains through the http://www.Adopt-a-Drain.org program to help keep stormwate pollution out of Lily Lake and other local waterways.
“To restore Lily Lake, we’ve had to put it all together,” says Downing. “It’s required water monitoring, public education and engagement, modeling, and project implementation.” The last step required to clean-up Lily Lake and return it to a clear water state was a new infiltration basin, constructed in 2021, and an in-lake alum treatment that was conducted this year in May.
POSTED BY:
Angie Hong Water Education Senior Specialist
East Metro Water Resource Education Program
Angie is the coordinator for Minnesota's East Metro Water Resource Education Program, a local government partnership. In her free time, she enjoys singing, competing in triathlons, and exploring the prairies, woods and waterways of the St. Croix Valley.
Representing Brown’s Creek, Carnelian Marine - St. Croix, Comfort Lake - Forest Lake, Middle St. Croix, Ramsey -Washington Metro, Rice Creek, South Washington and Valley Branch Watersheds; Chisago Lakes Improvement District; Bayport, Cottage Grove, Dellwood, Forest Lake, Grant, Lake Elmo, Hugo, Newport, Oak Park Heights, Oakdale, Stillwater, St. Paul Park, Willernie, West Lakeland, and Woodbury; Chisago, Isanti and Washington Counties; and the Chisago, Isanti and Washington Conservation Districts
C/O: Washington Conservation District 455 Hayward Ave. Oakdale, MN 55128 angie.hong@mnwcd.org Cell phone: (952) 261-9599 www.mnwcd.org/emwrep