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A4 AAA METROPOLITAN COUNCIL Mears Park Centre. 230 East Fifth Street, Sr. Paid. MN 55101-1634 612 391-6359 MX 612 291-6550 TTY 612 291-0904 June 30, 1993 Andrew Cardinal, Sr., President Rice Creek Watershed District 3585 Leadngton Avenue North, Suite 374 Arden Hills, Minnesota 55126-8016 Dear Mr. Cardinal: The Metropolitan Council (Council) received notice of the engineering.report on the Capital improvement Project (CTP) to restore Locke Lake as part of an amendment to the Rice Creek Watershed District's (RCWD) Water Management Plan: Since the project itself is part of the district's approved plan, the amendment deals mainly with the cost of dredging and developing an in-lake sediment basin. As such,the Council is.notrequired to comment on the project—just the amended cost of the project. However; costs of the project and benefits assodatedwith It are linked and merit some discussion: Locke Lake is;ae in-st eam'pool created.by.the damming.of Rice Creels near its mouth. The dam was constructed in-1955 and since that time, the lake has,beenfilling with sediments.derived from the floodplain and banks of'the creek. Currently, the lake bed i;entirely filled with sediment,.and has become a wetland area. The creek has formed a channel through the wetland. The proposed restoration project includes excavating.lockeLake to a depth of four feet, developing an in.lake sedimentation basin, and providing overall.project management services for. lake improvements, The sedimentation basin would bein the east bay of the lake and would. require dredging.at regular intervals to prevent it from eventually filing.and allowing.sediment into the western portion of the lake. The initial on-going dredging will require a permit from the Department of Natural Resources as well axe US.Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 permit. The RCWD's proposed.dredging of the lake hinges on the City of Fridley's proposed replacement of the lakes e,dsting outlet structure, the dam, which is not functioning at the present time. To restore the lake, a new dam would have to be constructed either during or after the initial dredging project The City of Fridley is responsible for reconstruction of the dam. The watershed district has estimated dredging costs ranging from $310,000 to $750,000 depending on which alternative is chosen. Alternative 2. the preferred alternative of the RCWD, would cost . approximately $350,000. This does not include the cost for maintaining the sediment basin after initial dredging is completed. Policy 3-6 of the CounciI's Water Resources Management Developmeru Guide/PolicfPlan states that the Council will protect the utility of the region's water and related land resources and seek their restoration where needed. In this case, restoration of the drainageway is preferable to constructing a new darn and undertaking large-scale dredging for the following reasons. Recycled Paper ETd E9172 .P8L ET9 :01 892PP8LET9 'Gil Ed JdJS TT:LT 176, 90 Naf