Whitewater River restoration project expands near St. Charles
The second phase of nearly two miles of river restoration work in St. Charles, Minnesota, is set to begin later this month.
The city approved putting phase two out for bids, with work expected to start in June, said Andrew Langholz, St. Charles city administrator.
The first phase started in 2022. That restored fish habitat, stabilized banks, and incorporated native plantings along 2,500 feet of the Whitewater River through St. Charles City Park.
Phase 2 this year will restore approximately 3,775-feet of the Whitewater River, from the Minnesota Highway 74 bridge to the pedestrian bridge east of Meadow View Park. That portion is expected to be complete in December this year.
The timeline is yet to be established for a planned phase 3 to restore the remaining 3,490-feet of the Whitewater River, from the Meadow View Park to the city limit.
Project funding comes from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Conservation Partners Legacy program.
The project adjusts the river's channel widths and curves and stabilizes the banks against erosion, said Dustan Hoffman, stream habitat specialist with the Minnesota DNR.
The work will actually lengthen the river through the Winona County town. As a result, the water will flow more slowly, stay cooler and provide better habitat for fish and other wildlife.
Rocks will be placed in the river bed and along banks as well as tree root wads that provide habitat and cover for fish and wildlife.
The project will also reconnect the river to parts of its original floodplain, making it less prone to flooding — a benefit that's the result of a healthy river, project leaders said.
"Ultimately, it's a habitat project," said Meghan Funke, water resources engineer at WHKS & Co., the lead contractor in the project.
The project is the southernmost large-scale habitat restoration effort on the river.
Those efforts have been ongoing for decades after farming and grazing led to erosion and catastrophic flooding in the Whitewater Valley. After the Whitewater River flooded 28 times in 1938, the Minnesota Legislature created the state's first conservation district. Since then, the scope of habitat restoration and wildlife management has grown to include parts of Wabasha, Winona, and Olmsted counties in the 27,000-acre Whitewater Wildlife Management Area.
The downstream project in St. Charles will connect to the Whitewater State Park and WMA
"It's a connection," Funke said. "The city is creating a resource upstream that will ultimately help the habitat downstream."
WHKS and Funke have taken the lead on similar habitat restoration projects of waterways through town and cities. The results are cleaner waterways that are less prone to flooding and home to more native plants and animals, she said.
"People are starting to value the rivers themselves as habitats," Funke said.
Downstream, the river is a habitat for native trout and is a state-designated trout stream.
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