AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION

PO BOX 2663, WOODBRIDGE, VA 22195

TEL • (540) 687-8390 | FAX • (540) 687-8395 | WWW.AWRA.ORG | INFO@AWRA.ORG

June 10, 2020

Brett H. Emmons, PE

Emmons & Olivier Resources

7030 6th St N

Saint Paul, MN 55128-6146

Dear Brett,

An Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach to water

resources has been a hallmark of AWRA since its establishment. Therefore, in

2012 the AWRA Board of Directors voted to establish an award that recognizes

outstanding IWRM work on a water resources project in consulting,

government, nonprofit, or academia.

On behalf of the American Water Resources Association Board of Directors and

its members, it is my pleasure to inform you that Saving Brown’s Creek, an

Urban Minnesota Trout Stream has been selected as the recipient of this award

for 2020. You were nominated to receive this award by Chris O’Brien.

You will receive the award at the AWRA 2020 Virtual Annual Water Resources

Conference in November – more details about this will be provided.

Please accept my congratulations, on behalf of, the officers and its members of

AWRA on this outstanding achievement.

Sincerely,

Betsy Cody

AWRA President

2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

LISA BEUTLER President

BETSY A. CODY President-Elect

JERAD D. BALES Secretary-Treasurer

BRENDA O. BATEMAN Past President

CLAIRE BLESER Director

LISA B. ENGELMAN Director

SCOTT W. KUDLAS Director

SHARON B. MEGDAL Director

ZHUPING SHENG Director

ZHENXING ZHANG Director

DRESDEN FARRAND, MPA, MPP, CAE Executive Vice President

2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BETSY A. CODY

President

SCOTT W. KUDLAS

President-Elect

CLAIRE BLESER

Secretary-Treasurer

LISA BEUTLER

Past President

JERAD D. BALES

Director

JASON DOLL

Director

SHARON B. MEGDAL

Director

ZHUPING SHENG

Director

TERESA THORNTON

Director

ZHENXING ZHANG

Director

DRESDEN FARRAND, MPA, MPP, CAE

CEO

American Water Resources Association (AWRA) – Integrated Water Resources Management Award  About AWRA During more  50  years  since  its  incorporation,  AWRA  has  worked  to  fulfill  its mission  to  promote  an improved understanding of water resources and related issues by providing a multidisciplinary forum for information exchange, professional development and education.  AWRA has benefited from the efforts of hundreds of volunteer members who have served as elected national officers, regional representatives, and editors. These volunteers have helped AWRA sponsor more than 130 meetings and symposia in the United States and abroad with more than 36,000 attendees.  The Integrated Water Resources Management Award has recognized outstanding teamwork on a complex water resources effort since 1964. The award is presented annually, or at such time as qualified candidates are identified and nominated. 

Key Award Criteria 

Restoration and protection of environmental quality as an essential element and goal. 

Coordinated and integrated planning, development, protection, and management of water and related resources. 

Planning for long‐term sustainability. 

Sound scientific principles. 

Adaptive management and realistic measurement of results. 

Recent Recipients 

2017 – American River Pipeline Conveyance Project (Ranch Cordova, CA) 

2016 – Webb Bridge Park Water Quality Enhancement Project (Alpharetta, GA) 

2015 – Oregon Water Resources Dept. and ONE DROP’s Project Burkina Faso (West Africa) 

Recognition The award will be presented at the AWRA 2020 Virtual Annual Water Resources Conference scheduled for November 9‐12. AWRA will also include a project summary on their website and Impact, their member magazine.  

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Back from the Brink – Saving Brown’s Creek, an Urban Minnesota Trout Stream Submitted by Emmons and Olivier Resources on behalf of Brown’s Creek Watershed District

The Brown’s Creek Watershed District, along with Emmons and Olivier Resources (serving as District Engineer), has developed a comprehensive program to protect and restore one of the few remaining trout streams in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Winding eastward through urban development, suburban neighborhoods, and along golf course fairways and woodlands on its way to the scenic St. Croix River, Brown’s Creek is one of the last remaining trout streams in Minnesota’s Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. Dependent on groundwater inputs to maintain consistent temperatures year-round, this cold-water ecosystem is particularly vulnerable to warm stormwater runoff and loss of groundwater recharge that is often associated with urban development.

Over the course of more than 20 years, the Brown’s Creek Watershed District (BCWD) has managed significant land use challenges to protect the stream from degradation and improve the overall health of this diverse ecosystem. The BCWD has accomplished this unprecedented result by dedication over 20 years with a comprehensive combination of progressive and sustainable green infrastructure permitting requirements, surface – groundwater interaction studies, unique built projects, and building public awareness and support.

In this fast-growing community’s mind, the conventional wisdom of the inevitable loss of a trout stream to urbanization has finally been changed. Recently, the expectation is that the community can grow and prosper while also having a healthy trout stream present for recreation amenity of the community and ecological health. This new community expectation is embodied by the popular new Brown’s Creek Regional Trail right next to the creek and through the beautiful valley gorge. The BCWD has engaged local communities to create win-win situations around regional growth plans, flood protection, waterbody recreation, and quality of life amenities. This has helped instill a new

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sustainability ethic and perspective, as well as pride in the community, with new regional trails being developed and outdoor recreation facilities. The City of Stillwater now has an active Sustainability group promoting holistic and smart growth for the community, and integration of nature into the fabric of the community’s life. That inititive has begun to spread broadly to issue of social equity.

Finding solutions to complex problems From flooding and legal conflict to streamside recreation and cooperation has been the story of the BCWD. Initially, there was a proposal to rapidly drain eight (8) feet from a massive land-locked lake that was flooding fields and threatening homes, but that would have eroded the stream channel and, even by the proponent’s admission, likely have eliminated the tenuous trout population in the creek. Lawsuits were threatened and battle lines were drawn with the upstream against the downstream. BCWD was formed at this time, a special purpose unit of government intended to solve complicated water problems.

Within a few short years, BCWD had already built its first project, the Trout Habitat Preservation Project, and caused the lawsuits to disappear with a clever balancing of protecting the homes of the flooded lake, while also protecting the integrity of the stream and the trout that call it home. This started a mindset by the BCWD Board of being problem-solvers and innovators. They have not looked back or veered from that path since.

The BCWD’s initiatives have evolved quickly from flood control, which still is an issue, to water quality and unique, groundwater-fed habitats. The protections afforded to Brown’s Creek are paying dividend several times over. The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standards developed for the St. Croix River, where Brown’s Creek flows, is also seeing the benefits of the water quality improvements. In fact, in the rapidly developing river valley, and multiple member cities, have constrained wastewater loads for the St. Croix River. The gains by BCWD has provided some margin of error in this difficult equation of wastewater discharges and balancing economic vitality and environmental stewardship.

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In order to understand the surface water and groundwater connections influencing Brown’s Creek, the BCWD has implemented a comprehensive monitoring program which has been used to inform the development of a sophisticated hydrologic and hydraulic model. This model, which has been calibrated with the monitoring data, has been used frequently by District staff to predict the performance of capital improvement projects and the impacts of future development and climate conditions within the watershed, to truly guide and inform decision-making.

Project highlights include the rerouting part of the creek away from a large wetland and thermal hot-spot back to the creek’s original path. Other stream work includes restoration of a stretch of Brown’s Creek flowing through a public golf course where manicured turf grass had bordered the stream. Guided by in-stream thermal modeling, the streambanks were reconstructed to narrow and deepen the channel, reducing thermal impacts by turf grass being replaced with deep-rooted native vegetation.

Notably in terms of public perceptions, golf course patrons embraced the project and have reported that the streamside vegetation has improved aesthetics and playability, making the course more challenging along this stretch of the creek. Post project monitoring of the stream morphology found quick recovery of natural stream form (run-riffle-pool) and more diverse aquatic biota. Further assessment of outcomes included a Master’s Thesis on stream thermal measuring techniques.

Through the District’s unique stormwater volume-based development standards and many projects, both in-stream and in the watershed, stream temperatures have actually reversed the predicted impacts of urbanization, and surprisingly have been trending in a positive direction with overall cooler temperatures.

Another innovative project involved partnering with the City of Stillwater to install a unique rock crib design that filters and cools parking lot runoff at a local park adjacent to the creek. The structure is designed to mimic natural hydrology, whereby precipitation slowly infiltrates into the ground to be cooled and seeps into Brown’s Creek through underground springs.

Stream protection from the ground up Since its inception in 1997, the Brown’s Creek Watershed District has taken a scientific and holistic approach to watershed management and the protection of a highly sensitive cold-water system located on the outskirts of a large metropolitan area. This requires careful attention to both groundwater and surface water inputs.

Before and after: A stretch of Brown’s Creek flowing through a public golf course was narrowed and its banks restored with native vegetation to improve habitat and lower instream temperatures.

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Specific efforts of the protection program to improve the stream include:

• Ongoing analysis and management of groundwater resources that influence baseflow contributions and the temperature of Brown’s Creek.

• Sophisticated coordination with state agencies such as the Metropolitan Council, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Pollution Control Agency to create a robust, long-term data collection network – stream, lakes, and groundwater.

• Installation of best management practices such as rock cribs/cooling trenches, Iron Enhanced Sand Filters and stormwater reuse projects targeted at mitigating specific sources of stormwater pollution.

• State-of-the-art hydrologic, hydraulic and thermal modeling to accurately simulate changes to the watershed as new projects are built and development/redevelopment projects are permitted and built.

• Innovative riparian shading study and improvements, which analyzed how shade restoration projects could be optimized to benefit stream temperature and bank stability.

• Installation of low-flow release structures through a system of connected wetlands and infiltration basins to address flooding at Goggin’s and School Section Lakes and reduce warm-water discharges into Brown’s Creek.

• Re-routing part of the stream back to its original location of 100 years ago, avoiding significant thermal impacts.

• Streambank enhancement within a public golf course to improve riparian habitat, narrow and deepen the stream channel, and reduce average water temperature.

• Education and outreach program, which utilizes shared-educator services to reduce costs and streamline messaging.

• Active Citizens Advisory Committee, which provides additional outreach while implementing projects involving residents and local entities.

• Enhanced regulatory program, evaluated to streamline stormwater management rules, making them more consistent with state and local standards, while also adding special controls for a cold-water stream.

Ensuring sustainable development The BCWD has developed a robust, science-based permitting and regulatory program to ensure sustainable, metropolitan development can coexist with minimal impacts on the Brown’s Creek trout stream ecosystem, something many said was not possible in a fast-growing metropolitan area. For example, a 2016 hydrologic and hydraulic modeling simulation identified sensitive areas such as landlocked systems, to protect groundwater recharge. The District enacted a first-of-its-kind analysis and permit review process that triggers enhanced volume control requirements for development activity in such basins.

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In addition, the District enforces a policy preventing outlets to landlocked basins. These policies are essential to maintaining the prairie potholes, which prevents warm and pollution-laden surface runoff from discharging and in turn provides cool groundwater inputs to Brown’s Creek.

Recent initiatives to maintain the delicate groundwater and surface water balance needed for trout and cold-water streams have included incorporating reuse to divert urban runoff to irrigate golf courses. This is a win-win-win by supporting urban development (entities can obtain permits more easily), reducing excess warm water runoff, and protecting the aquifer that feeds clean, cool water to the sensitive creek.

Success against all odds Despite significant land use pressure on the Brown’s Creek watershed, aquatic life in this cold-water ecosystem remains relatively healthy. A 2019 fish assessment found 12 fish species in Brown’s Creek, including multiple year classes of brown trout (indicating successful spawning), brook stickleback and rainbow darters. In addition, the most recent Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) score for Brown’s Creek exceeded the Exceptional Use Threshold for Southern Coldwater Streams region, with 58 different invertebrate species sampled in 2019.

In order to address stressors to Brown’s Creek from urbanization of the watershed, the BCWD has spent more than 20 years implementing water quality best practices from small-scale cost-share projects like rain gardens and native plantings to major capital improvements.

Large-scale projects include a series of constructed wetlands at the creek’s headwaters, streambank restoration utilizing $250,000 in grant funding, and a rock crib that cools and filters parking lot runoff before entering the stream. The BCWD’s permitting and regulatory system has also helped to control stormwater discharge as new developments are considered, limiting warm water and pollutants from entering the creek when it rains.

These concerted efforts are all part of the District’s program to reverse the predicted “inevitable impacts” to Brown’s Creek as a cold-water ecosystem, and instead allow it to flourish in an urbanizing community.

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About Brown’s Creek Watershed District Located just east of Saint Paul, Minnesota, the Brown’s Creek Watershed District (BCWD) was established in 1997 to address local flooding issues and stream concerns and has since 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 District encompasses 29.9 square miles (19,104 acres) of Washington County with portions of seven local communities: Grant, Hugo, Lake Elmo, May Township, Oak Park Heights, Stillwater and Stillwater Township. Led by a 5-member board of managers and District Administrator Karen Kill, the BCWD is supported by water resources staff from Emmons and Olivier Resources, including Camilla Correll, PE, who serves as District Engineer.

Over time, the BCWD has transitioned from being an organization focused on the protection of a single species (trout) to one that is focused on the ecological health of the entire Brown’s Creek corridor and the lakes, ponds and wetlands that support the constant source of groundwater to this cold-water fishery. In addition, the BCWD recognizes the contributions it has on the St. Croix River, which is designated as a National Scenic Riverway.

In 2016, BCWD completed its fourth updated watershed management plan, which will guide its efforts from 2017-2026. This document outlined 97 specific goals to address 15 watershed issues, including several new sections related to ecological health, climate change adaptation, and recreation.

About Emmons and Olivier Resources, Inc. Emmons and Oliver Resources, Inc. (EOR) is a collaborative group of environmental and design professionals passionate about protecting water resources, restoring healthy ecosystems and enhancing each community’s unique sense of place. Founded in 1997, EOR is an employee owned, multi-disciplinary firm that specializes in:

• Water resources engineering, watershed planning and drainage modeling • Sustainable site design, planning and landscape architecture • Environmental compliance, biological surveying and restoration

EOR was founded in Minnesota as an independent, water-centric engineering firm providing sustainable solutions for watershed districts and municipalities and that went beyond the traditional stormwater management and engineering methods. In addition to Minnesota, EOR now has offices in Toronto, Edmonton, Iowa and Wisconsin.

In addition to the Brown’s Creek Watershed District, EOR clients include over half of the watershed districts and water management organizations in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, as well as municipalities, institutions, conservation authorities, industrial facilities, private and non-profit entities in the Midwestern U.S. and Canada. EOR has also completed projects at the provincial and federal level including projects for the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Resources, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.