Meet Taylor Mills, Artist in Residence 2025

The South Washington Watershed District is excited to announce the selection of Taylor Mills as its Artist in Residence 2025. SWWD is honored to host another artist through its Artist in Residence program. Mills was selected from a robust applicant pool of area artists due to her unique ability to tell a story and create […]

SWWD Awarded Clean Water Legacy Partners Grant Funds

The SWWD has been awarded $250,000 from the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources’ (BWSR) Clean Water Legacy Partners Grant Program. With the funds, the South Washington Watershed District (SWWD) will continue a coordinated effort with the cities of Newport and St. Paul Park to reduce sediment and nutrient loading to the Mississippi River. […]

Enhanced Street Sweeping in Woodbury

In 2022, the City of Woodbury, in partnership with SWWD, launched the Enhanced Street Sweeping pilot program and saw immediate success. Two years and three street sweepers later, SWWD takes a look at just how effective this BMP has been for stormwater management. Managing stormwater runoff is important to maintain water quality and reduce environmental […]

Spring Cleaning “To Do’s” Should Include Picking Up Dog Poo

This year’s spring cleaning list should include picking up pet waste to prevent water quality contamination in the South Washington Watershed District. Pet waste is considered pollution, and when not picked up, it can negatively impact water quality. Waste from pets contains nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as pathogens and disease-causing bacteria. But what does […]

SWWD 2025 CCIP

SWWD Coordinated Capital Improvement Program (CCIP) 2025 Request for Proposals To facilitate improved stormwater management in existing developed areas, the District administers a Coordinated Capital Improvement Program (CCIP) to provide financial assistance to local land use and public works authorities for projects that benefit District water resources by directly improving water quality and/or the resilience […]

Winter 2025 Newsletter

Project Update Celebrating Trout Brook This October, SWWD marked the official end of work on the Trout Brook stream restoration project. To celebrate the occasion, SWWD worked with the Minnesota DNR to stock just over 2,500 fingerling brook trout into the stream. The site was identified over 10 years ago for restoration work to reduce […]

Grit! The Chloride Free Alternative to Road Salts

To combat chloride pollution in the watershed, South Washington Watershed District will provide free grit this winter. Chicken grit or grit, is a chloride free, non-chemical alternative to salt for deicing roads, sidewalks, and driveways during the winter. How does grit work? Grit works physically to provide traction on top of ice, unlike deicers which […]

SWWD Celebrates the Confluence of Art and Water Resources

The South Washington Watershed District celebrated the conclusion of the 2024 SWWD Artist in Residence program with an artist exhibition, Connecting at the Confluence. A first time program for the District, hosting a resident artist to capture the natural resources of South Washington. Beginning in 2023, SWWD sought to incorporate something unique into its programming […]

Fall 2024 Newsletter

Project Update Trout Brook Restoration Wrapping Up The summer of 2024 has seen the completion of the final stages of SWWD’s restoration at Trout Brook! In late July, our contracting team at MNL was able to successfully transfer Trout Brook’s flow to the newly constructed meandering channel while also completing floodplain restoration activities. Over the […]

Afton Alps Trout Brook Stream Restoration-EAW

SWWD and its partners have begun restoration of Trout Brook. The centerpiece of the restoration will be a re-meandered channel and floodplain creation within the Afton Alps property. The channel will rerouted from its current, straightened alignment back to its historical location.  Construction of Phase I and II has been completed. Full project details click […]