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Grass Lake Restoration

Project At a Glance

This initiative would enable further restoration of the 1,200-acre Grass Lake prairie wetland basin located adjacent to Willmar.    Key benefits include wildlife habitat improvement, downstream water quality improvement, and stormwater runoff management for the city of Willmar, Lake Wagonga and Big Kandiyohi Lake.

The shallow, 1,200-acre Grass Lake basin was drained for farmland many years ago by Kandiyohi County and many private landowners.   Historically, crop losses often occurred within the Grass Lake area due to flooding, particularly during wet cycles.    Between 1989 and 2000, 11 landowners within the basin enrolled lands in the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Reserve program via perpetual conservation easements for wetland restoration and reestablishment of native prairie vegetation.    Two sub basins have been restored to date.

County Ditch 23A, which runs through Grass Lake, also serves as an outlet for runoff from much of the city of Willmar.    In order to facilitate improved stormwater management and the potential restoration of Grass Lake, the city previously commissioned a hydrologic analysis and preliminary design of two large stormwater lift stations.    However, the high costs for construction (approximately $5 million) and operation (approximately $50,000 per year) of these facilities precluded the city from undertaking this plan.    Previous attempts to seek state and federal grant funds to assist implementation of this plan with the two lift stations have been unsuccessful.    After this full restoration plan became bogged down, one major landowner within the Grass Lake basin decided not to enroll in RIM.

An alternative, lower cost plan to restore most of Grass Lake is under development, in partnership with the city of Willmar and Kandiyohi County. This alternative plan would involve diverting as much contributing drainage area as possible into Grass Lake and rerouting County Ditch 23A from the city of Willmar around the southern side of Grass Lake.    This plan would preclude the requirement for stormwater lift stations and result in a savings of approximately $3.6 million in construction costs and $50,000 annually in operation and maintenance costs.

Further restoration of Grass Lake would enable this large area to better serve as a contiguous wildlife habitat area, as well as a sediment and nutrient trap and runoff detention area. This restoration has been identified as a goal for water quality improvement and flood damage reduction downstream for Lake Wagonga and Big Kandiyohi Lake.    Further restoration would provide
substantial waterfowl and other wildlife habitat in the high priority prairie “pothole” region of Minnesota. Water quality improvements would benefit the downstream chain of lakes, as well as the downstream rivers and associated water uses. This includes the South Fork of the Crow River, the Mississippi River and the associated water supplies for Minneapolis and St. Paul.

To date, many local state and federal governmental units and nonprofit organizations have participated in this project by acquiring conservation easements, implementing conservation practices and providing technical services.

Project Contact Person

Ronald D. Harnack, Executive Director
Board of Water and Soil Resources
One West Water Street, Suite 200
St. Paul, Minnesota 55107
Phone: (651) 296-0878
Fax: (651) 297-5615
E-mail: ron.harnack@bwsr.state.mn.us

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