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Integrated Series of GI Projects for Lake-Centered Community

Integrated Series of GI Projects for Lake-Centered Community

Two significant green infrastructure projects (GI) were designed for the community of Deerwood Minnesota to address both community flooding and water quality issues. Respectively, these projects consisted of the private development community of Summer Place and the public, shoreline Skone Park.

Summer Place project was a partnership with the City and the Homeowners Association who supplied the land for a stormwater improvement project at Summer Place.  EOR designed a multi-stage treatment train to treat over 30 acres of urban runoff with an infiltration swale, infiltration basin, and iron-enhanced sand filter. The iron-enhanced sand filter is the first of its kind in this region of Minnesota. EOR worked to coordinate a challenging stakeholder process including the City, the Summer Place Homeowners Association, the Serpent Lake Association, and several private homeowners who were impacted by the project.

Skone Park is the location of the city’s only public beach on Serpent Lake. The beach had continually been shrinking, being replaced by large sized riprap, due to heavy flooding that would regularly wash out the sand at the beach. In response, EOR worked with city officials and county Soil & Water Conservation District staff to design and implement a series of tiered bioretention basins upstream of the lake to reduce volume and velocity of runoff at the beach, while at the same time reducing pollutant loading to the lake. 

These were part of a series of five green infrastructure projects installed around Serpent Lake between 2016-2019 that were funded by the MN Board of Soil & Water Resources and the Minnesota Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Fund. In 2019 water clarity in Serpent Lake was the best it is has been since 1991

Client Benefits: Skone Park

  • Prevents regular flooding of a public beach.
  • The project prevents 3.5 lbs of Phosphorus and 250 lbs of suspended solids from entering Serpent Lake every year. 
  • Native grasses in rain gardens are easy to maintain and reduce total inputs into mowing and turf maintenance in the park. 

Client Benefits: Summer Place

  • Residents of Summer Place no longer experience flooding of their yards and cabins. 
  • Prevents 30 lbs of Phosphorus, 125 lbs of Nitrogen, and almost 1,000 lbs of suspended solids from entering Serpent Lake annually
  • The project was honored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency with a Community Partnership Award in 2016. 

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