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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Duluth Communications Office
Mayor Roger J. Reinert
411 West First Street • Duluth, Minnesota 55802 • www.duluthmn.gov
For more information, please call 218-730-5309
DATE: 3/25/2016
SUBJECT: Duluth is a finalist in Environmental Initiatives Award for Coffee Creek restoration project
BY: Pakou Ly, Communications Office

 

Duluth is a finalist in Environmental Initiatives Award for Coffee Creek restoration project

 

[Duluth, MN] – The City of Duluth’s Coffee Creek Daylighting and Restoration project was selected as one of three finalists for the 2016 Minnesota Environmental Initiatives Award, Natural Resources category. The awards are given annually to projects that achieve extraordinary results and solve complex environmental issues through the power of partnerships. The organizers choose 6 award recipients; each representing one of six categories.


This year, the City of Duluth with its partners, Barr Engineering and Minnesota Trout Unlimited, are being recognized for their work to restore Coffee Creek, a small but highly valuable stream for native brook trout located within the Enger Golf Course. During the summer 2012 flood, the stream was devastated with damages to multiple infrastructure elements and a dam that fed into an irrigation pond.

The City seized the opportunity to restore and daylight this highly impacted section of trout stream through the use of strategic partnerships to leverage funding sources and ensure the inclusion of habitat features within the restoration design. The City and its partners worked in collaboration with stakeholders such as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources - Division of Ecological and Water Resources and Section of Fisheries (MN DNR) and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), to create a restoration plan. The project goals included the creation of a natural stream channel that would not only be more resilient to future flood events, but that would also provide valuable aquatic habitat for brook trout while also ensuring passage of aquatic organisms. Outcomes included over 1,200 feet of new stream channel, including high-quality trout habitat (40 in-stream structures and more than 200’ of toe wood), and over an acre of restored native vegetative buffer.


A video showcasing the work can be viewed at  https://youtu.be/1fv047Ywbp8


The winners will be announced at the May 26 awards ceremony in Minneapolis.

 

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