Approximately 1,500 feet of severely eroding riverbank in the City of Anoka's Mississippi River Community Park was stabilized in late 2021. The project included tree clearing, bank reshaping, riprap, erosion control blanket, seeding, and planting a variety of native plant species. Since installation, the site has been subjected to multiple years of high water levels. Both the riprap on the lower elevations of the bank and the vegetation on the upper elevations have successfully stabilized the site. 

ACD staff recently boated the Rum River to review potential riverbank stabilization and in-stream habitat sites, which provided an opportunity to assess a few previously installed stabilization projects. Each site was stabilized with hard armoring at the bottom of the slope (where vegetation will not grow due to frequent water level fluctuation) and native vegetation on the upper banks. The sites have remained stable, and vegetation has established to provide riparian habitat value within the Rum River Corridor.

 For more information contact Mitch Haustein, Shoreline and Stormwater Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Rain Guardian pretreatment chambers were on display at the 2024 Operations and Maintenance of Stormwater Systems Conference in Austin, TX. The Rain Guardian booth provided conference attendees with an effective solution for bioretention system pretreatment. Conference attendees included stormwater managers, municipal and county government employees, engineers, contractors, and designers. This is the first time Rain Guardians have been on display at a conference in Texas, and many attendees expressed an interest in Rain Guardian products.

See www.RainGuardian.biz for additional information or contact Mitch Haustein, Stormwater & Shoreline Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ACD staff provide technical assistance for a wide-variety of projects each year. Many of the requests for assistance come directly from landowners interested in improving natural resources on their individual properties. Technical assistance is also provided for projects in collaboration with county, city, and watershed entity partners. The table below summarizes 2023 technical assistance provided by ACD staff. 

Assistance usually begins with a site consultation. Consultations typically include a conversation with the landowner, desktop review of the site using GIS mapping software and available data sets, and a site visit to discuss options. If the landowner is interested in pursuing a project, ACD can provide design and installation oversight services. Maintenance guidance is also provided for previously installed projects.

For more information contact Mitch Haustein, Stormwater & Shoreline Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The proposed removal of Golden Lake from Minnesota's impaired waters list was highlighted in a recent Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) article that underscores the importance of Clean Water Funds (CWF) for measurable water quality improvement. ACD secured two CWF grants for iron-enhanced sand filters (IESF) to reduce phosphorus reaching Golden Lake, located in Circle Pines, MN. Iron-filings mixed throughout the sand, capture phosphorus from stormwater passing through the filters. One IESF was installed in Centennial Green Park (2015) in the City of Blaine, and the other was installed in the City of Circle Pines (2019). Both projects were identified as cost-effective phosphorus reduction options in a Golden Lake stormwater retrofit analysis completed by ACD. 

The proposed delisting of Golden Lake is a testament to the hard work and collaboration by many, including ACD, the City of Blaine, the City of Circle Pines, and the Rice Creek Watershed District. Mitch Haustein, ACD's Stormwater and Shoreland Specialist, assisted with the projects and was interviewed for the article. Click here to read the full article from BWSR that also includes brief stories about proposed delistings for 6 other Twin Cities area lakes, 1 Wright County river reach, and 1 Winona County stream segment.

For more information contact Mitch Haustein, Stormwater & Shoreline Specialist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..