Minnehaha Creek Watershed with James Wisker
Our Program on July 23rd was given by James Wisker, the Director of Planning, Project and Land Conservation, for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. The focus of his talk was on the restoration of the creek in the Knollwood Mall – Methodist Hospital corridor.
He first started out with some basics, explaining that a watershed is the area of land where all of the water drains into a specific water reservoir. Minnehaha Creek is one designated district, but it drains in to the Mississippi River, so the MCWD is also a part of the river’s designated watershed. The MCWD covers 181 square miles of land, mostly n Hennepin County. In recent year, the group has had an evolving philosophy.
Rather than try to maintain the creek on their own, they now integrate their planning with others – individual and corporate land owners – in order to make thoughtful and permanent changes and improvements to the creek’s route. An example of this cooperative effort is the area he highlighted. The Target store at Knollwood had flooding problems caused by the creek, and the creek was an eyesore at the hospital. By coordinating changes in the creek in the area with building plans, the creek is now more visible and more controlled. Other smaller projects are in process involving one or two homesteads, with the MCWD sharing in the costs.