After 25-years in operation, the Comfort Lake – Forest Lake Watershed District (CLFLWD) has nursed two lakes and one stream back to good health and is now seeing improving water quality trends in numerous other lakes across the district. “Bone Lake was taken off of the state’s impaired waters list this summer, and we are hoping to “de-list” another four lakes in the next two years,” says Steve Schmaltz, CLFLWD Board President. Other recent success stories include Second Lake in Chisago Lake Township and the Sunrise River (Comfort Lake to Pool 1), both of which were removed from the state’s impaired waters list in 2022.
The history of the CLFLWD harkens back to the mid-1990s, when the first “big box” stores were built in Forest Lake. When construction crews began moving dirt to make room for the Walmart store, local residents six miles north on Comfort Lake noticed a dramatic change. Nutrient-rich sediment from the building site in Forest Lake began pouring into Comfort Lake from the Sunrise River. The sediment clouded the water and caused massive algae blooms. After a lengthy legal and regulatory battle, the Comfort Lake – Forest Lake Watershed District was established in 1999.
Watershed Districts are a special-purpose, local unit of government unique to Minnesota whose role is to establish rules and implement projects to guard against flooding and promote clean water. CLFLWD covers 49 square miles in northern Washington and southern Chisago County, which includes 20 named lakes, 300 drainage ditches, 1000 wetlands, and the headwaters of the Sunrise River. It is governed by a five-member board of managers who are appointed by Chisago and Washington County Commissioners. Jackie Anderson, the longest-serving member of the CLFLWD Board, was instrumental in establishing the watershed district back in the 1990s.
Though the CLFLWD gains some of its funding from property taxes, it has also been incredibly successful in securing grant funds from the State of Minnesota to support local clean water projects. “Our district has a disproportionately large amount of land covered by water and wetlands,” says Mike Kinney, CLFLWD’s Administrator. “It is a challenge for a small watershed district to do this kind of work with limited funding, so I’m grateful to taxpayers statewide that voted to approve the Land and Water Legacy Amendment in 2008.”
Board Managers Dave Bakke and Steve Schmaltz note that the watershed district’s use of diagnostic monitoring has also helped them to prioritize the most cost-effective clean water projects, in order to save time and money.
“When Mike Kinney came on board as administrator for the CLFLWD, he did the research to determine where public money could best be invested for water quality improvements,” Bakke explains. “At that time, the goal was for Bone Lake to meet water quality goals by 2040. I shared with the CLFLWD Board that I would likely be gone by then, and Mike took that statement as a personal challenge. His scientific method of gathering the data, making decisions based on that data, implementing projects, monitoring improvements, and following up has proven effective.”
In recent years, the CLFLWD has led a number of prominent clean water projects, including restoring and enhancing a 22-acre wetland along the Sunrise River in 2023, constructing a stormwater harvest and reuse system at Forest Hills Golf club in 2019, restoring a large wetland complex at Bixby Park in 2016, and constructing numerous urban stormwater retrofit projects in Forest Lake.
On September 18, the Comfort Lake – Forest Lake Watershed District will celebrate its 25th Anniversary, share updates on programming, and announce recipients of the 2024 Watershed Champion Awards. The State of the Watershed and 25th Anniversary Banquet will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 5-7pm at the Forest Lake American Legion.
RSVP via email to adam.hjelm@clflwd.org or by phone to (651) 395-5850 by September 6th.
East Metro Water 