Hennepin County has more than 160 miles of streams, each threatened by heavy runoff that can buckle their banks and fill their beds with sediment. Now the county will use funding from the state's Legacy Amendment to help cities and watershed districts stop their creeks from falling victim to development.
Starting Tuesday, Hennepin County's new Riparian Restoration and Stream Bank Stabilization program -- RASP for short -- will take grant applications from local governments for projects to stem erosion, said Joel Settles, natural resources supervisor in the county's environmental sciences department. Riprap -- a foundation of loose chunks of stone or other material -- might be used to shore up a bank, or plantings with deep roots can hold soil in place, he said.
The program will be paid for with $500,000 from the Legacy Amendment, the state sales tax increase that voters approved last year to fund projects for the outdoors, water resources, parks and trails, and arts and culture.
Water projects typically are financed locally through property taxes, so money from Riparian Restoration can help local governments keep their levies in check. Applications for funding must be in by mid-October, Settles said.
Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455
