The Watershed District decreased its draft project budget for 2020 by over $2 million from 2019 — with over $1 million of that drop falling under dredging projects — as it plans ahead for next year’s efforts.

To create the project budget, Shell Rock River Watershed District Administrator Andy Henschel and Financial Technician Carmen Christensen do their best to determine which projects will be completed in the following year, Henschel said.

Almost every area of the preliminary 2020 project budget — which is still a draft and will not be finalized by the board of managers until September or submitted to the county until December — saw a decrease in intended expenses.

These decreases matched a decrease in income, a good chunk of which, in 2019, came in the form of state bonding dollars set aside for dredging projects, Henschel said. While the 2019 budget included $3.55 million in state bonding, the 2020 project budget did not include any.

The dredging portion of the 2020 project budget did not include confined disposal facility construction, which ran the district $1.2 million in the 2019 budget. The CDF cells are used to store sediment removed from the lake through dredging.

The budget still includes $2.5 million for the dredging itself, which is consistent with the 2019 budget.

This year’s budget — and for several future years, Henschel said — does not include funds dedicated to CDF maintenance. JF Brennan, the dredging and marine construction company contracted to dredge Fountain Lake, is responsible for CDF maintenance while the dredging is underway, Henschel said. The Watershed District will take over maintenance at the end of Brennan’s contract. Henschel said he expects the soonest that would occur is 2023.

Other budget changes include:

A $23,500 drop in the water monitoring budget to $110,000. Henschel said the district is working to lower its water monitoring budget because it already has access to a lot of good data. Still, the district has mandatory water monitoring to conduct in line with permit requirements. Additionally, grant funding will be used to fund some water monitoring locations, Henschel said.

Over $1.47 million will be used for erosion and water control expenses, including money set aside for the district’s cost-share program for rain gardens, rock inlets, stormwater BMPs and rain barrels, a structure on Upper Twin Lake, habitat restoration and lakeshore restoration. However, Henschel said some projects planned for in the 2019 budget likely will not be completed in 2019 and may be pushed over into 2020.

The subwatershed projects budget dropped by over $500,000. Equipment costs and project maintenance together dropped $25,000. The district also has two fewer projects budgeted for, which translates to $488,750 less in this budget area.

The budget for the Board of Water and Soil Resources Targeted Watershed program stayed the same at $162,800.

Debt services to be paid also stayed the same at $168,000.

The district budgeted approximately $128,000 less in its reserves.

The Watershed District board also reviewed a draft of the $250,000 administration budget.

Prior to the budget workshop, the Shell Rock River Watershed District held a special board meeting. During that meeting:

The board of managers approved an application for a $7.5 million bonding request. The district is asking the state to fund the third dredging contract and the construction of the fourth CDF as well as any finalized engineering work. The original deadline for submission was June 15, but due to miscommunication Henschel said the district did not submit the request in time, Henschel said. There is still a July 15 deadline the district can make, he said.

The board approved an easement agreement for a project on the northwest side of Pickerel Lake in an effort to increase spawning habitat for northern pike. Technical specialist Scott Christenson said a crushed culvert that ties a wetland to the lake is not draining well, and instead the wetland is holding water year-round and is full of cattails. If the district can manipulate when the wetland stays wet, Christenson said — to hold water in the spring and let it out in the summer and fall — it will increase the spawning habitat for northern pike and reduce the risk of predatory fish.

The Watershed District board agreed to enter into project partnership with Pheasants Forever for a North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant. The district will use $225,000 of Targeted Watershed wetland restoration funds, while Pheasants Forever will supply roughly $75,000, Program/Project Manager Courtney Phillips said. The district received two bids for construction of the project. The low bid, just over $298,000 submitted by Jensen Excavating and Trucking LLC, was approved by the board, with board treasurer Al Bakken abstaining.

Board approval was granted to initiate lakeshore restoration in the Pioneer Park area north and west of City Beach. Henschel said some banks there are high with severe erosion. The project was originally cued up for the city to complete, but the Watershed District received Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council funding for it. The Watershed District is asking to handle the project with involvement from the city in final design work, bidding of the project and oversight of construction.