Where the Money Goes

ACD finances vary annually due to the ebb and flow of competitive grants. 2024 included several large project installations, funded primarily with state grants. Many state grants are from sales tax dedicated to natural resource activities. ACD is committed to accessing these funds to benefit Anoka County taxpayers in proportion to the sales tax paid in the county. ACD strives to keep overhead costs down while expanding services. 

Making Sense of the Dollars
Although governed by an elected board, conservation districts do not have taxing authority and must secure funds from many sources. State funds increased in 2024 due to several large project installations. Product sales also exceeded $1M for the first time in 2024. County funds are critical for general operations because many grants do not cover overhead expenses.

Making Dollars of the Cents
ACD collaborates with cities, watershed management entities, state agencies, county departments, non-profits, and landowners on projects of mutual interest. On average, for every locally derived dollar, ACD leverages over four dollars from outside the county.

Two local lakes and the Sunrise River will benefit from an upcoming wetland restoration project. ACD has secured a $221,375 Clean Water Fund grant, from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. The new wetland will receive water from Ditch 20 to remove phosphorus. That nutrient is responsible for "impaired" conditions, including excessive algae blooms, in downstream waters. The project is immediately upstream of Typo Lake, which in turn drains to Martin Lake and the West Branch of the Sunrise River. Construction is anticipated in 2026. For more information contact Jamie Schurbon, Watershed Projects Manager, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

ACD's pollinator conservation programs were made possible by grant funding from BWSR and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Monarch Conservation program. For more information contact Logan Olson, Restoration Technician, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

This ACD video showcases a successfully completed rain garden that was built on a city outlot in St. Francis, MN. This rain garden was funded through the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, with additional funds from the Upper Rum River Watershed Management Organization. The City of St. Francis will provide project maintenance. This video combines real footage, motion graphics, and 3D animation to showcase the entire construction process and illustrate the process of building a rain garden with an underdrain system. The underdrain system is largely hidden underground, so this video is intended to help inform on what a underdrain system may look like. For more information contact Brian Clark, Natural Resource Technician, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

ACD has been busy stabilizing severely eroded riverbanks along the Rum River to reduce the load of sediment and nutrients entering the river and to enhance the habitat of the Rum. A large initiative utilizing phases of grant funding from the Clean Water Land and Legacy amendment kicked off after a 2017 erosion inventory highlighted just how much need there was along the Rum River. To date, this initiative has garnered significant local investment beyond the competitive state grant dollars from Anoka County, the Upper and Lower Rum River WMOs, the Cities of Anoka and St. Francis, ACD, and numerous property owners. In 2024, we substantially completed construction for Phase 1 of funding from two competitive state grant sources; the Clean Water Fund (CWF), and the Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF). 

With these funds, along with local match dollars from the all the sources mentioned, we successfully installed the following in 2024:

• 405-feet of articulated concrete toe to normal water levels, with low rock riprap armoring to the two-year flood elevation along some of the highest, steepest, and deepest erosion on the river in Oak Grove (CWF grant funds).
• 115-feet of supplemental rock toe around 40-foot tall bank with toe erosion, susceptible to critical failure in the near future in Oak Grove (OHF grant funds).
• 415-feet of rock toe armoring to a two-year flood elevation with upper banks graded and seeded with native vegetation in Oak Grove, (OHF grant funds). Bank heights ranged from 12-feet to 20-feet with a shear vertical eroded face.
• 400-feet of rock toe armoring to a two-year flood elevation with 225-feet of vegetated reinforced soil slope, and 175-feet of graded upper bank, all of which was seeded to native vegetation in Anoka (OHF grant funds). This bank was approximately 10-feet in height with a paved walking trail actively falling into the river.
• 200-feet of cedar revetment along moderate toe erosion at the Anoka Nature Preserve in Anoka (OHF grant funds). A 550-foot stretch immediately upstream of this segment is planned for a bioengineering project in 2025.

ACD's tree sale is right around the corner! Trees and shrubs are sold in bareroot seedlings or transplants, ranging from 8" to 18" in height. They may be purchased in bundles of ten for $24.00, or twenty-five for $47 not including tax. Native prairie seed and tree aides are also available. You do not need to be an Anoka County Resident to order. The order form is organized to group native trees and shrubs according to their ecosystem and non-native trees and shrubs based upon their primary use. Call 763-434-2030 x 100 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to get added to the notification list. 

In Anoka County, 330,000 residents (94%) depend on groundwater for drinking water, using about 12 billion gallons annually. Wells (residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial) that are unused and unsealed pose a significant health and safety hazard by creating a direct conduit to introduce contaminants (e.g. pesticides, nutrients, pathogens) into groundwater supplies. The highly permeable sands of the Anoka Sand Plain are likely a significant source of groundwater recharge for several of the major aquifers that supply water needs throughout the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Visit the Minnesota Department of Health webpage for more information on well sealing in MN. 

Anoka County was one of the few counties in Minnesota that lacked a program to assist landowners with paying to seal unused wells. In response, ACD established a well sealing cost-share program, using a FY20 Clean Water Fund (CWF) grant. As awareness of the program grew, demand increased, highlighting the need for such financial assistance. Since 2020, ACD's well sealing program has made significant progress. ACD staff has worked with hundreds of landowners, promoting and educating on well sealing, resulting in the sealing of 67 high-priority unused wells.

Apex Pond in the City of Fridley was enhanced in 2023 to improve water quality in both Springbrook Creek (County Ditch #17) and the Mississippi River. Originally constructed in 1999 with a ponding depth of 1-foot to slow the rate of runoff entering Springbrook Creek, the enhanced pond is ~6-feet deep and provides water quality treatment for nearly 90 acres of residential neighborhoods. The increased ponding depth enables sediment and nutrients to settle and accumulate in the pond. Runoff enters the pond via three inlets and a single outlet serves as the connection to Springbrook Creek. 

Total annual reductions to Springbrook and the Mississippi River include 16.80 lbs-TP/yr and 6,617 lbs-TSS/yr. The City of Fridley funded pond maintenance, and a combination of Watershed Based Implementation Funds from the Board of Water and Soil Resources, a Coon Creek Watershed District Water Quality Cost-Share Program grant, and the City of Fridley funded the pond enhancement. For more information contact Mitch Haustein, Stormwater & Shoreland Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ACD is collaborating with Anoka County Parks to enhance wetland basins in the Cedar Creek Conservation Area. Efforts are underway to increase plant diversity and to shift the wetland plant communities to sedge meadow and wet meadow. Both basins were initially dominated by reed canary grass. In 2021, two sheet pile plugs were installed in the ditch system and reed canary grass scrapes occurred in the east side basin (see map below). Native plants emerged where reed canary grass was scraped away. Management including mowing, spot herbicide treatment and seeding continue in this area to increase plant diversity. 

The upland – wetland basin in the CCCA has the potential to be restored to native dry prairie and sedge meadow habitats. Many of the remaining sedge meadows are often only fragmented narrow strips, adjacent to non-native cattails, making them difficult to manage. It is feasible to create a burn break around this unique wet meadow and prairie habitat to restore and maintain the plant communities. There is an opportunity to include this area with an adjacent dry prairie that is part of a regularly scheduled prescribed burn management plan. Additionally, the soil type along the wetland margin in this basin are known to support rare plant species. Once restored, this site could be a recipient site for rescued rare plants. For more information contact Carrie Taylor,Restoration Ecologist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Construction was completed in early November to stabilize one of the highest priority riverbanks in Anoka County. Two separate projects, spanning multiple properties, stabilized 935-feet of some of the tallest and most eroding riverbank on the Rum River. Portions of this stretch ranked at the top of the list of 80+ identified eroding banks during a 2017 erosion inventory of the Rum River through Anoka County. Altogether, these projects are estimated to reduce annual pollutant loading to the Rum River by 753-tons of sediment, and 640-lbs of total phosphorus.  

ACD has grant funding available to enhance in-stream habitat in the Rum River! This effort focuses on areas adjacent to public land and those which are accessible for shore fishing. Rock vanes, woody overhangs, and similar features will be installed in areas where aquatic habitat structure is currently lacking to provide adequate holding and resting areas for game fish and the forage they rely on. This is part of a larger, corridor-scale river restoration effort supported by funding from the Outdoor Heritage Fund and several collaborating agencies. 

We are currently compiling a detailed inventory of existing conditions at several sites throughout Anoka, Isanti, and Mille Lacs Counties. Do you enjoy shore fishing along the Rum? Let us know which areas you think could use improvement! Share your feedback with Breanna Keith, Water Resource Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

You may have observed a major difference between this year and our last few growing seasons: plenty of precipitation. According to the DNR's Climatology Office, the amount of rain that's fallen from April through August 2024 has been nearly the most on record over a good share of Minnesota. Overall, this is good news for our forests – but all that near- historic rainfall has had additional impacts to trees. 

As shoots and leaves emerge in the spring, they're particularly susceptible to infection from fungal pathogens. Extremely wet weather during this timeframe promotes sporulation (formation of spores) of these microscopic fungi, and rain spreads the spores around. The end result is a slew of common leaf diseases that we've seen in 2024. 

Read the full article from the MNDNR or contact Becky Wozney, Wetland Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

ACD has its first agricultural cover crop project underway! A landowner in Linwood Township will plant 40 acres of cover crops each of the next three years. The project benefits soil health, water quality, and habitat. Cover crops are planted with a cash crop or after harvest of a cash crop. It's an alternative to leaving the soil bare for nearly half of the year. Cover crops prevent erosion, scavenge nutrients that might otherwise wash away, build soil structure, and increase infiltration. Common cover crops are oats, rye, turnips, and kale. The cover crops are terminated just prior to planting the next cash crop. 

To encourage farmers to give cover crops a try, ACD offers incentive payments. These flat rate payments are on a per-acre basis - $50/ac/yr if planting 1-2 species and $60/ac/yr if planting 3+ species. The practice must be implemented annually for three years to qualify for funding. ACD also has incentive payments for other practices including conservation cover, contour buffer strips, filter strips, and no-till/strip-till. For more information contact Jamie Schurbon, Watershed Projects Manager, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.