Lake George Project
History/Summary
In
1991, the City of River Falls, in cooperation with the Wisconsin DNR,
UW-RF, and
Trout Unlimited began drafting a Watershed Management Plan for the
Kinnickinnic River and Its Tributaries with a single objective:
“To aid in preparation of an action plan to minimize adverse water
quality impacts from existing and future storm water discharges to the
Kinnickinnic River."
The Plan was completed and adopted by the
City of River Falls in 1995. This “action plan” identified river water
quality issues associated with Lake George and the highly impervious
watersheds in the down-town River Falls area. In 1996, UW-RF prepared a
Lake George Management Plan for the City. This plan considered four
alternatives:
I.
Do Nothing Option
II.
Dam Removal
III.
Complete Dredging
IV.
Constructed Artificial Wetland/ Stream Channeling
This study concluded that: “After
extensive study, considerable discussion with DNR personnel and others,
Alternative IV is the recommended alternative as a management plan for
Lake George”, however, no scientific studies or modeling were conducted
to determine the practicality or feasibility of this alternative.
In 2002, a grant was obtained from the DNR to help fund a scientific study of reconfiguring Lake George
to
enhance water quality of the Kinnickinnic River. The scope of this
project was to analyze options for
reconfiguring Lake George to provide improved storm water management of
runoff from the highly-impervious downtown area of the City of River
Falls. Only reconfiguration concepts that were viable with or without
the dam in place were considered.
Bonestroo and Associates were retained
for this project. Two
models were developed to aid in technical evaluation of various
alternatives. A thermal model for the river helps quantify the thermal
impacts of various management alternatives, and an urban runoff model
helps quantify total suspended solids loads to the river.
In addition a 7-member Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and an
11-member Stakeholder Committee helped provide guidance for this
project. These groups held 14 meetings between March 2003 and December
2004 to guide the development of this plan.
The critical elements endorsed by the
TAC and Stakeholders Committee are as follows:
1. Reconfigure Lake George into a
multi-cell system separated from the river during base flow and small to
moderate runoff events.
2. Construct the east interceptor
(which includes capturing runoff from Econo Foods) as well as the first
phase of the north interceptor up to Walnut Street.
3. Extend the north interceptor as
opportunities arise, such as during downtown redevelopment projects or
road/alley reconstruction.
4. Construct one or more "end-of-pipe"
projects designed to infiltrate runoff on existing City-owned land, such
as in Heritage Park on the west side of the river.
5. Concentrate on one (or several)
storm drainage sewershed to work with private property owners to find
suitable sites for, and install, small scale stormwater treatment
features such as rainwater gardens. These efforts could focus on parts
of the study area where diverting runoff to a reconfigured Lake George
for treatment is not feasible (such as the west side neighborhoods),
end-of-the-pipe treatment strategies may not be practical, or
neighborhood interest and cooperation may be very high.
6. Develop and execute a public
education program aimed at building understanding of and support for the
overall management strategy and its various components among the general
public as well as the business community.
On August 30, 2005, the Final Report of
the Lake George Area Storm Water Treatment Concept Plan was presented to
Stakeholders, TAC, Park Board, Plan Commission, and City Council. The
Plan was well received by all in attendance, and City staff was
encouraged to pursue funding opportunities for implementing the Plan.
Because storm water flowing to Lake George from the Westside
neighborhoods cannot be routed through a reconfigured Lake George, the
TAC and Stakeholders recommended small-scale/small site watershed
management strategies such as rain gardens and infiltration trenches be
implemented in the Westside neighborhood. In 2006 the City, in
conjunction with TU, KRLT, and Priority Watershed, have targeted a
stormsewershed to implement these small scale practices. We have
met with residents as well as hired a consultant to design City projects
within the right of way. Preliminarily, 4 households will be
implementing recommended projects on their property to treat roof and
driveway runoff and the City will be constructing 5 projects within the
public right of way to capture street and alley runoff. These
projects will likely be constructed in 2007.
Of the six critical elements endorsed by the TAC and
Stakeholders Committee, elements 4-6 are currently being pursued through
a combination of local and Priority Watershed funding. Funding necessary
to implement elements 1-2 has not been secured. The EPA Targeted
Watersheds Grant Program has been the only grant funding identified to
date that may help make full implementation all six critical elements
endorsed by the TAC and Stakeholders Committee a reality.
On August 28, 2007, the City
of River Falls was officially notified by the EPA that our application
for a Targeted Watersheds Grant was rejected.
2005 Lake George Area Storm Water Treatment Concept Plan
Report
Please be aware of large file sizes. These files (in particular
the final report) may take considerable time to download, based on
internet connection speed.
Executive Summary (1,052 KB)
Final Report with Executive Summary (20,628 KB)
Appendix A - List of References (71 KB)
Appendix B - List of Committee Members (11 KB)
Appendix C - USCOE Report on Thermal Model (1,053 KB)
Appendix D - Evaluation of Watershed BMPs (38 KB)
Appendix E - Detailed description of proposed BMPs (28 KB)
Appendix F - Lake George reconfiguration alternatives with
schematics (3,504 KB)
Appendix G - Planning Level Cost Estimate (16 KB)
Appendix H - Summary of Final Stakeholder Meeting (34 KB)
