Drummer Wetland Restoration/Blue Earth County Ditch No. 25

Blue Earth County, MN | Water

ISG partnered with a local landowner in Blue Earth County to design a wetland restoration of a shallow lake originally tiled in the early 1900s and replace a portion of a failing County Drainage System. The project included a comprehensive wetland restoration plan to maintain and improve the quality, quantity, and biological diversity of wetland resources within the watershed. The restoration provided multiple benefits to the local landscape including water quality, wildlife habitat, restored vegetation, and storage for the public drainage system.

ISG developed a comprehensive wetland restoration plan designed to benefit the local landscape by improving water quality, preserving wildlife habitats, restoring vegetation, and providing much needed storage for the drainage system.

The Drummer Wetland Bank was originally a shallow lake, tiled in the early 1900s, and restored to a 30-acre, 8-foot deep wetland with a contiguous 30-acre native prairie upland buffer. The hydrology to the wetland basin was restored by filling the ditch, removing 800 linear feet of existing tile line, building a berm, and constructing an outlet structure on the east side of the basin. As a result, the restored wetland basin functions as a Type 5 open water wetland with a transitional fringe. The vegetation in the wetland bank was restored by seeding the wetland, transition zone, and native prairie upland and planting a mosaic of emergent and submergent aquatic plants in the open water areas. Engineering, surveying, and environmental permitting services were provided, as well as vegetation and hydrology monitoring services during the five-year period following construction.