Past Grant Projects

The Digital Aerial Photo Archive (DAPA) was created to preserve historical aerial photography for all of Ramsey County. Scanned photos are given a coordinate system though a process called orthorectification, allowing them to be used by Geographic Information System (GIS).  Before DAPA, aerial photos were subject to damaging misuse, resulting in ink marks, tears, and theft.
The photo series chosen for this project are 1940, 1953, 1974, and 1985.

The methodology for DAPA was developed through a pilot project funded by the City of Roseville, Capitol Region Watershed District, and Ramsey SWCD

DAPA is funded jointly by the Ramsey SWCD and the Ramsey County GIS Users Group.

What was Como like when this area was settled?  Was is deep?  Was it shallow?  This was an important question for the participants of the Lake Como Strategic Planning Process during early 2001.
Historians have differed.  

Some say the lake was fairly deep, clear, and a popular resort area- similar to McCarrons or Phalen.  Some say that the lake was nothing more than a shallow duck marsh and that the resorts were hunting clubs.

We knew that the solution was in the sediments of the lake.  The 8 cores we took helped settle the argument:  Lake Como was a shallow lake at the time this area was settled during the middle of the 19th century.

Partners - Ramsey Soil & Water Conservation District; Capitol Region Watershed District; U of M Dept of Soil, Water, and Climate;  U of M Limnological Research Center. 

Project Manager - David Bauer (SWCD).

Project Staff - Dave Bauer (SWCD) Dan Wheeler (U of M Soils).

Background - Woodview Marsh is a degraded wetland meadow just north of Larpenteur Ave between Rice and Dale Streets in Roseville, MN. The area was partially drained for agriculture in the early part of the 20th century and was used as a community garden in the 1970's. It has been fallow (left alone) for the past 20 years and is overgrown with thistle and other invasive and exotic species. 

Project Goal - Woodview Marsh will be restored from a low quality, highly disturbed wetland to functioning wetland with a diversity of plants beneficial to wildlife. The enhanced wetland will create a "wetland bank" which will be used to mitigate future road construction in Ramsey County. 

Project Plan

Initial Investigation (2001)

Monitoring wells were installed in Woodview Marsh in May of 2001 to create a depth to water table model. The wells were monitored every five to seven days until early November 2001 and the data collected determine that 3.5 acres had been drained. Plant communities were also mapped during this time. 

Phase 1 (Fall 2002 and Winter 2003)

Ramsey County Public works will excavate portions of the wetland to create open water habitat. In general, the deepest portions of the wetland will be around 4 feet, but may get as deep as 5 feet during wet periods. A weir, or control structure, will constructed at the outlet of the wetland's main drainage ditch on the SW corner of the parcel. The weir will prevent water from flowing from the wetland unless the water table reaches a certain height. The discharge height is well below the flood stage that would affect local property owners. 

Phase 2 (2003-2005)

Exotic and invasive plants will be treated with herbicide, and native vegetation will be established. Natives will be started both by seeding and by planting small plugs of seedlings. Two island areas for duck production will be seeded in upland vegetation. Since thistle and reed canary grass (undesired plants) were allowed to flourish in the wetland for so long, establishing the native vegetation will be the most challenging part of the project, and possibly one of the most important for wildlife, water qualify, and aesthetics. 

Partners - Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, Ramsey County Public Works, Capitol Region Watershed District, Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District, Ducks Unlimited.  

Project Manager - Terry Noonan (Ramsey County Public Works)  

Project Design Team - Terry Noonan, Brian Grundtner, Curtis Pratt, (Ramsey County Public Works); John Moriarty, Larry Holmberg (Ramsey County Parks and Recreation); Deb Bloom (City of Roseville); Linda Peterson, Bruce Sandstrom (Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources); Tom Landwehr (Ducks Unlimited); Dave Bauer, Tom Petersen (Ramsey Soil & Water Conservation District).

Over 1,500 cubic yards of accumulated sediment were removed at the outlets of five storm sewers flowing into the Lake.   The sediment consists mostly of street sands applied to winter roads. The City of St. Paul vacuums much of the sand, but a lot of it still enters the storm sewer system and enters the lake.  The backhoe removed over 120 dump truck loads of street sand from Lake Como.  It was last cleaned in the '80s.The sediment was fanned out in deltas that reached as far as 200 feet into the lake.  They were removed during the Fall of 2001.  The Capitol Region Watershed District funded this project. Care was taken to map the sediment deltas during June of 2001.  By finding their depth and extent, disturbing the mucky natural bottom of Como was minimized. The shoreline vegetation was restored following delta removal.

Partners - Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD); Ramsey Soil & Water Conservation District (RSWCD); Ramsey County Public Works (RCPW).

Project Manager - Terry Noonan (Ramsey County Public Works).

Project Staff - Terry Noonan (RCPW), Anna Gervais (RCPW), David Bauer (RSWCD).