The LMRWD plans to participate in a project with the Riley/Purgatory/Bluff Creek Watershed District (RPBCWD) and Hennepin County on Riley Creek improvements.  In 2016, the LMRWD and RPBCWD joined to develop a feasibility study to reduce erosion and sediment in Riley Creek.  

The MPCA maintains a list of impaired waters for the state of Minnesota. A body of water is considered impaired if it fails to meet one or more of the state’s water quality standards. Waters that are not able to meet their designated uses due to exceeding water quality standards are considered impaired. Lower Riley Creek, from Lake Riley to the Grass Lake is included on the MPCA’s 2016 Inventory of Impaired Waters (MPCA, 2016). The identified pollutant or stressor for this reach of Riley Creek is turbidity, with aquatic life as the affected designated use.

The goals of the projects identified in the feasibility are to improve the water quality by stabilizing the creek banks, reconnecting the creek to its floodplain and reducing the velocity of the water in the creek.  LMRWD will partner with RPBCWD and the city of Eden Prairie to construct a project in Riley Creeks lower valley and will partner with Hennepin County to construct a project where Riley Creek enters the LMRWD south of Flying Cloud Drive.  The entire feasibility study can be found here.