Cattail Removal and Waterflow Enhancement project

RLPOA membership,
RLPOA and its project partner SWCD are pleased to announce the final steps in the Conservation Partner Legacy Grant funded Cattail Removal and Waterflow Enhancement project at CR134.
9 acres of Hybrid cattails were removed last summer and this spring through monumental effort by Lake Aquatics Weed Removal.

Next steps include:
1. CULVERT
Placement of a 16’x10’ box culvert and raising of the road height by 4 to 5 feet has begun and if conditions allow it should be completed by the end of August.
2. NATIVE SEED/WILD RICE
Immediately following the culvert placement,
a native seed mix of plants native to Koochiching County will be planted on the northeast shoreline transition zone (high water mark to shallow water)
Also, in collaboration with Couchiching First Nations experts, Wild Rice will be planted in the waterway in the eastern side of 134 in the northern half of the channel up to where the native seed mix planting begins.

PURPOSE OF PROJECT
All the work to this point, cattail removal and culvert replacement, was in preparation for planting native vegetation to restore the kinds of plants that a healthy ecosystem would grow were those plants not displaced or excluded by the invasion of cattails. We look forward to seeing a healthier mix of plants and the birds, animals and fish that this restored waterway can attract.

Future communication will include management suggestions for those who wish to help maintain the ecosystem.

Before

After

A huge thank you to the contractor Jacob Holman and SWCD for their extraordinary efforts to manage the project.
Jeff Hardwig
RLPOA member