The Rice Creek Watershed District has been recognized as 2011 Anoka County Outstanding Conservationist and will be honored at the annual convention of the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (MASWCD) in Bloomington on December 6. The Rice Creek Watershed District has worked hard to strike a balance between the sometimes competing goals of maintaining legal drainage systems and
improving water quality, wetland function and wildlife habitat. From small-scale projects such as the 34 neighborhood rain gardens installed to reduce volume and improve quality of stormwater runoff to larger projects such as restoring the function and capacity of regional stormwater pond, the district has strived to promote conservation across a diverse 121 thousand acre watershed. The Rice Creek Watershed District has shown that conservation can be successfully implemented in both rural and urban settings by working closely with the Anoka, Ramsey and Washington Soil and Water Conservation Districts with whom they share jurisdiction.
Download Rice Creek 2011Outstanding Conservationist for more information.