The Brown’s Creek Watershed District was established in 1997 when the Brown’s Creek Watershed Management Organization was unable to resolve flooding issues in Goggins Lake, Plaisted Lake, School Section Lake, and Kismet Basin. This chain of lakes had merged due to rising water levels to form one shallow, 440-acre basin. Nearby homes and septic systems flooded, resulting in property damage and threatened lake water quality.
The newly formed BCWD designed its first capital improvement project, the Trout Habitat Preservation Project (THPP), to alleviate the flooding and protect the temperature-sensitive resources of Brown’s Creek. This award-winning project took a sustainable approach to addressing the flooding concerns by mimicking the natural hydrology of the watershed and routing excess surface water back into the groundwater system near the headwaters of Brown’s Creek through a series of created wetlands and an infiltration basin.
Since addressing flooding in the early 2000’s, the BCWD has taken an active role in protecting and restoring Brown’s Creek, one of the few remaining designated trout streams in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The BCWD began protecting the trout stream from the impacts of development by adopting stormwater management rules and retrofitting portions of the watershed that were developed before rules were in place. Initially, the BCWD was managing the creek for the declining trout population.
In 2002, Brown’s Creek was listed on the federal 303(d) list as impaired for Biota (fish and macroinvertebrates). In 2008, after further research and data collection, it was determined that Brown’s Creek (from 110th Street to the St. Croix River) was impaired for Lack of Coldwater Assemblage, meaning that it was unable to support a healthy population of fish and macroinvertebrates that are an important part of the aquatic food chain. Once this impairment was assigned to Brown’s Creek, the BCWD shifted its focus to managing the entire ecosystem: the cold-water resource that supports an abundance of flora and fauna that relies on a constant source of cold, clean water to survive. In addition, the BCWD recognizes the contributions it has on the St. Croix River, which is designated as a National Scenic Riverway.
