Sucker Lake Channel Restoration

Quick facts:

The channel between Pleasant and Sucker lakes, south of Co. Hwy. 96 is highly visible and in a well-used section of the Vadnais-Sucker Regional Park. The channel’s current construction, comprised of cement, asphalt and rock, is failing and requires replacement. This is a joint restoration effort between VLAWMO, Ramsey County Parks and Recreation, Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation Division, and the St. Paul Regional Water Service.

Funding:

VLAWMO will be contributing funds directly relating to channel restoration, erosion prevention and native plantings. Funding for the other portions of the project will be sourced by Ramsey County Parks. A significant portion of the funding comes from the State Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment. 

Reason for project:

The Channel is more than 80 years old and requires reconstruction and modernization to support the needs of the public, water service, and water quality.

Construction:

The project reconstructs the channel wall, creates new fishing platforms, and introduces a native plant section to form a natural, stabilized bank.

Plant List: 

Glossy black chokeberry, sweet flag, anise hyssop, swamp milkweed, blue joint grass, Beb's sedge, bottlebrush sedge, fringed sedge, porcupine sedge, lake sedge, purple coneflower, boneset, sneezeweed, blue flag iris, common rush, monkey flower, beebalm, smooth penstemon, Virginia mountain mint, little bluestem, green bulrush, wool grass, prairie dropseed, New England aster, and golden alexander. 

Educational signs:

Sign #1: Project overview 

Sign #2: Wildlife at Sucker Channel

Results:

The project was completed Summer, 2018.